SignalsAZ.com Prescott News Podcast - Young Voices, Big Stories: Behind the Scenes of the Prescott Youth Film Program

Episode Date: May 20, 2025

Send us a text and chime in!In this special edition of the Signals podcast, hosts Gulliver and Christine are joined by three remarkable young filmmakers — Matilda, Kaiser, and Alora — to discuss their five-month journey through the inaugural Prescott Youth Film Program. From pitching story ideas and running cinema-grade cameras to editing complex special effects and acting on screen, these students share the highs, challenges, and surprises of learning real-world filmmaking.Check out the CAST11.com Website at: https://CAST11.com Follow the CAST11 Podcast Network on Facebook at: https://Facebook.com/CAST11AZFollow Cast11 Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/cast11_podcast_network

Welcome to a special edition of the Signal's AZ podcast. My name is Gulliver. We're here with Christine. And please introduce yourself. I'm Matilda. I'm Kaiser Vias. And I'm Alora. And we're here to talk about the Prescott Youth Film Program.

We are the instructors and with us are three incredible filmmakers who've done a lot of work over the last five months. creating some amazing films that we're going to be excited to showcase to the Prescott and Quad City area. Back in January, Christine, my wife and I, partnered with the Movement Studio in Prescott Valley. There are an incredible performance arts school that has an award-winning dance team and an award-winning theater and, you know, performing arts programs. and, you know, we were so inspired by what they were doing, you know, with the all-ages shows that they would produce, some of which are our daughters and ourselves were involved with on the stage and behind the scenes. You know, we had always, Christina and I had always been involved in some sort of, you know, community building. whether it be working for some nonprofits or working with organizations like the teen producer program in San Diego, California.

And, you know, this had been something, you know, we had wanted to do for a long time. Christine and I have run a film and video production company for 25 years. And when we came to Prescott, this, you know, kind of opened up an opportunity for us. to do something we really wanted to do. So we started the Prescott Youth Film Program in partnership with the Movement Studio. So what have we been doing for the last six months? Who wants to start us off?

I can. So at first, we got to pitch our ideas to Christine and Gulliver of like what movie or a film we wanted to make. And so we took turns getting filmed, like pitching our ideas, and then a few of our ideas were chosen. My idea was chosen, and mine was, well, the title is Picture Day, and we have been working on it for a while, so I can, like, talk a little bit about how we've been working on that one. So a lot of... Laura was the star on Picture Day and played Katia. And basically it's about this girl in Katia who wakes up one morning thinking it's

picture day. But then it's not. So it just like keeps playing over like each day somehow isn't picture day. And then finally when it is, she's just like a mess and like not ready at all. That was a really funny pitch. You know, we had actually, you know, until the very brink. brings up, you know, a great point. You know, we wanted to structure the whole class like a film studio or, you know, a real

life production company, how they kind of do things. So all the students gave us a pitch. So there was, you know, we ultimately had 24 students. And 24 really amazing ideas. It was very hard to, to select, which movies went into. production, but we tried to make each project diverse in

sort of the genre and the theme and the style. And I think we came up with some, you know, we have a great selection of film. Kaiser, why don't you tell us a little bit about your film project? The film project we're working on is very

interesting and very close to me. It's a very good film project. It's about two detectives trying to figure out a murder case but you know they're working pretty hard trying to find the killer but you know turns out the killer might be a little closer than they might think right uh it was really fun to work on the films uh not even just mine we like how i got to film with other people's projects that was really fun using the camera that was really fun uh writing the script you know doesn't come easy but you know it's a very thorough

you know, kind of, I don't know what I'm going to say here, kind of, I don't know, it was just really interesting. I had never done anything like this before. I'd always wanted to. You know, it's always been a dream. But, you know, once I finally got to do it, use camera work and finally got to put some of the ideas that I had down and be able to film it, you know, I was quite excited with, you know, how it played out, I guess, through the five months that we've been working on it. So, well everybody in the class had a chance to you know run cameras direct run sound um the major roles inside of a film production um and you know on our first day as as matilda mentioned we know we we set up and filmed pitches well it was actually you know we had our students um were filming with

red cinema cameras and Canon cinema cameras and these very high-end professional cameras filming each other giving these pitches. And across all the different projects, everyone had a really, everyone had an opportunity to do a lot of roles. Alora, why don't you tell us about some of the projects you worked on and some of the things that you did? It was really fun helping with Picture Day and acting in Picture Day. I really liked editing it. It was so much fun. I also helped edit a lot of the other films.

That was really fun. It was super fun working with Matilda and all the other crew members. And like, I just, like, felt like I could actually make a movie. It was so much fun. I, like, in some of the other films, like, I helped film. I helped direct. I got to do, like, all the stuff. It was just super fun.

Yeah, we, our students, you know, had a chance to do a lot of things. And, you know, during our class, which was every Friday at the movement studio, it was often, you know, a very hectic experience in a way, if you looked at it from the outside, but kind of organized chaos. Why don't you tell us about that. Anyone that knows production knows it's a little bit chaotic at times. And of course, we had to bring that real world example to the kids. And so, you know, as they're setting up lights and we might have two or three or four productions

going on during one class. So we would utilize different areas of the movement studio. and kind of be running back and forth between different productions at times. Kaiser would be strapped with camera when he says he worked with a camera a lot. I mean, maybe explain a little bit about what exactly. I mean, you weren't just holding a camera. No. Yeah, no.

Yeah. Why don't you talk about that first night? You got to use a steady camera. Oh, yeah. We were working on Adeline's music video. And I had a steady camera, which I'd never, if I'm going to be honest, I'd never even heard of before. the second I saw it, like, whoa, I want to.

You know, yes, please. And they strad me up and I got to, it's really heavy, but I got to, you know, shoot around. I got, you know, here, there, told, you know, what to do here. And that was, you know, it's challenging in its own way, but it's a really interesting thing, being able to work the cameras. I really enjoy it because you get to, you get to see, like, what. other people are going to see you get you have to set up the camera in the right position to like where other people are going to have to watch this in the in movie theater I guess so you know you got to

think pretty pretty hard about it but yeah not only was I doing the steady cam but I also got to do a lot of like work with the cannon on my own film which I really enjoy that camera that's a nice camera yeah it was just all of those different cameras we got to use were quite uh indulging, if you will. Yeah, definitely, you know, there's definitely a lot to learn and, you know, and in the class, you know, we really were kind of having a hands-on approach. I mean, you could have a whole class just about camera work or sound or editing and, you know, we had to literally have everyone learn all of that, you know, as we were making the films. And this was once a week, two hours

class once a week. So, you know, it's not a lot of time to really learn what we had to learn. But enough. And, yeah, I mean, Matilda in her group, why don't you tell us a little bit about the other film that you were involved in and some of the other roles that you had in some of the other films? Yes. So I was also in Galaxy Heroes, which has like a new name kind of now, but I'm not totally sure what it is. But I played Astrid in that film, which was really fun. We were like these spy characters that were like trying to save our friends, Nova and Rex,

from General Tiny who was like holding them captive. And it was really fun acting. I think out of all that we did, acting was my very favorite part. I just love like acting. So everyone could like watch and enjoy what you've done. but with Galaxy Heroes as Astrid, I mean Milo had to go and save our friends. So we were like in it a lot.

We got to do like these laser battles and everything, which was really fun and I enjoyed editing in all of the effects. It was really fun to put that film together since it had all of the special effects and stuff. it like involved another level of editing but it was really fun to add in that other level. You know, that's a great point that you make there. You know, so one of the one of the things that, you know, I think came about as such a, I guess a blessing to the program in a way was when we were contacted by this, by one of our lead sponsors and lifetime partners of the program now,

a organization called Big Films. And what they do is they create these sort of Hollywood-level special effect assets like laser blasts or we actually have a, you know, a Godzilla-style kaiju that is going to terrorize downtown Prescott. And because, you know, when they heard about what we were doing at big films, they were just so excited that a program like this existed, they all said that if, you know, they had had a program like that when they were youth and first interested in film that, you know, they couldn't imagine, you know, where they would be now. And so they were so generous in donating over 10,000 visual effects assets to the school for our students to use for this year and for the years to come. So, yeah, so we were able to create this really cool Star Wars film. And some of the other amazing films as well. Who wants to talk about some of the other films, you know, so our other filmmakers get a chance to, you know, to our audience gets to hear a little bit about our other films in the program.

Alora, why don't you start? There's, like, a lot of cool films. I really like this one film. It's about, like, these, like, four friends who, like, are, like, magical and live in, like, a magical dimension. and like they get teleported to our world and they have to try and fit in and try and get back home. But somebody else discovers this magical orb that teleported them and is using it for evil.

And we have to see if the four magical friends can get back home. Another film I really liked was the Galaxy Heroes film. That was really cool. I loved all the special effects. And I think kids will really like that film. And does anyone want to talk about maybe the cooking show? Did anyone... That one was really funny.

It's about... So there's the two hosts. and they're hosting like this very strange cooking show. The two contestants basically just use fruit to make their pastries, so they're like mashing up apples and stacking banana pieces. It's really funny. And the judges are hilarious as well in that show. I think it's like, as well as Picture Day, those two are like going to be such great comedies on big screen.

It's going to be so great. And does anyone want to talk about the music video? Kaiser or Elor, do you want to? I can do it. Okay. The music video was like really fun to film and like it looks incredible. Like Adeline was like really good at singing. For that film, you know, so Adeline is one of the kind of amazing alumni.

I from the movement studio slash footlight productions theater company. And she pitched us an idea of creating an original song. And she had these lyrics in mind and this whole song in mind. And we love the spirit of it. And we basically tried to make it happen. And it was wonderful. because one of our other, you know, sponsors of the event Raven Sound Studios in downtown Prescott donated some time in the morning and donated their engineers and recordists. And Adeline was able to lay down this track, you know, coached by Ben Nas, who, you know, lent his talents to the track and to the session.

And then it was basically up to, you know, these amazing filmmakers. You know, Kaiser was actually, you know, instrumental in shooting the big prom scene or party scene that we had for that, you know, concert scene. Featuring some amazing dancers from the movement studio. Yes, indeed. I mean, that was, again, just another wonderful partnership opportunity. You know, the award-winning dance team is actually featured. in the film as well. And, yeah, I must say just, you know, all these films turned out, you know, in my opinion,

incredibly. I mean, did you guys, you know, when you started the program, you know, sort of what were you thinking, you know, it was going to be like? And then, you know, did it exceed any expectations or? Yes, definitely exceeded expectations. I didn't think we're going to be able to do as much as we did. I didn't think we were going to have as much equipment as we did when I first heard about it. Because I had also been in the movement studio for a couple of years before.

And then when I heard about it, I was like, oh, this could actually be really cool. And then I walked in there and I see all these cameras and all these lights and all these sound equipment. I'm like, oh, okay. So we're actually going to like, we're going to be doing something. But yeah, it was a really fun time being able to make these movies and being able to work with all that equipment. very big opportunity for all of us involved. I mean, you know, I personally have never been able to, you know, work with any of that kind of equipment before. And then when I came into this class, it was, you know, kind of changed a little bit because I got to, I actually got to use them. So my thoughts were

similar to Kaiser, Kaiser's. K, sorry. When I first, like, heard about it for, from Ben. I didn't expect it had so much equipment either. I was very excited because I have always enjoyed making like little films. Definitely would not as much experience. But when I came in, I saw all the stuff and was also like so excited. And as the classes progressed, like all those thoughts have come true. Like I've learned so much. It's amazing how much I've learned in this class. Like when I was like really little We used to make like I used to like me and my parents Used to make like like little like mini movies

That had like a lot of music And like when like this happened like when I like Like saw this like and like when I walked into the room I was like oh my gosh look at all this And like there's so much camera cameras and lights and film equipment. We were on a real movie set, right? I mean, that's definitely the kind of environment.

We wanted to give all the students there. And, you know, just to let everyone know that we were as serious about this project as we hoped that the students would be. You know, I think when, you know, when, you know, when, you know, when we started this whole, you know, program, you know, we, our goal was to create, you know, some media entrepreneurs, you know, we hope that our students, you know, armed with this knowledge, even though they might, you know, people don't have access to cinema cameras everywhere, but they do have access to, to their phones. There's there's a lot of, you know, stuff you can really start, you know, getting your hands on at our early age. And, you know, from our past experience, you know, with, you know, we kind of knew what, you know, these young people were capable of. And so, you know, we could trust them, you know, once they learned a little bit about this equipment. You know, it was exciting to see all you guys, you know, learning and growing with every shoot. I'm sure there were some unexpected things that you didn't really kind of think about about the filmmaking process.

What were some of the things that, you know, you guys learned or kind of like were surprised about? I was definitely surprised about all the, like, special effects. I did not expect all of them, but it was amazing how we got to work with them. Like, it was a good surprise. I really enjoyed getting to add, like, guard bots and stuff into the gout. Alexi Heroes. It was hard, but also really fun. Yeah, like she said, editing was a big surprise.

I had missed the class of the editing, and I remember coming and then thinking, wow, I think we're just going to hire somebody to do this in the later. Definitely a big surprise on like how difficult it was. And, you know, once, I can't really say anything, but, you know, once you get used to it, I'm sure it gets a little bit easier. I only watch a couple of YouTube videos, but, you know. Well, what about, like, filming, you know, filming your film, you know, like during the filmmaking project, you know, we had some night shoots. We had some very cool lighting. Yeah, we did.

Lighting was really fun to set up. That's a, that's like a big part of it. I didn't add on. to the conversation, it was very surprising how hard the lights were to set up because I didn't know like how exactly where to put them where they would be directing from to where you can't see them from the camera. And I was very surprised with how all the actors did. They all did so good. I wasn't expecting how a talented the group we had was. I mean, I knew they were going to be talented for sure. But they really, another thing that exceeded my expectations, I guess, was was the acting

with all the classmates that I had. And Laura, what about you? What was sort of surprising about? You've done a lot of acting for theater, right? Mm-hmm. So what was it like, you know, acting in a film? Like, I was surprised by, like, acting, like, like, I know what it's, like, like, acting, like, on a stage, like, in a play. But, like, it feels, like, different and, like, more, like, real on, like, on, like, being on a camera.

In front of the camera and behind the camera. What also surprised me was the editing. The editing was really fun. I was just really surprised about like the special effects and like the lighting and all the music and like. And some of your, you know, we were shooting all these scenes out of order for for everybody's film. And I think your film in particular had some challenges because, well, tell us a little about, you know, like shooting. shooting one scene meant what? Like shooting one scene, like it was like really hard editing and it was really hard shooting.

Like, like... You've got a lot of a costume changes. Yeah. Like, just like you do like a couple takes and you have to change into a whole different costume. Then you do a few more and then a whole different costume. And it was kind of hard. There was a lot of makeup involved too. There was a lot of makeup involved.

Like, I had to put it on for one and then wash it all off and then put it on for one and wash it all off. I remember when we were shooting like the scenes where you were like walking out the door. And every time because you walked out like three or four times and every single time you'd have to like go and change your outfit before you could like shoot the next scene. Like go out. Yeah. Picture day film is almost reminds me. a little bit of Groundhogs Day, how we kind of, you know, there was a lot of similarities between the scenes, but they were all very different as well. And we did a lot of shooting on location

in Prescott. We really wanted to highlight, you know, some of the local venues that are, you know, just uniquely Prescott. Where, you know, where did we film some of our films, guys? We filmed some of ours like downtown Prescott and some like at the movement studio and some and like the back and like in the alley like the locations are like really fun. And for Galaxy Heroes we filmed out at the Granite Dell so like we could have like all the like outer space like we're on a different planet. So it's like the rocks seem like they're from a different planet. I think that's what a lot of people say when they see that for the first time. But now it actually is. You know, a film isn't a film until it's shown to people.

You know, that's been our whole ethos about this whole program. You know, there's a lot of artists that work. But, you know, you got to show your art. And our filmmakers are going to have that opportunity, May 27th at 5 p.m. here at Harkins Theater and Prescott Valley, where we are having the inaugural Youth Film Program premiere event where all these films are going to be shown. We're going to have a red carpet celebration. and the Prescott and Quad City communities are going to be able to see the next generation of filmmakers at their finest. Are you guys excited about the premiere?

I'm so excited. It's going to be so fun seeing myself up on screen and like all the other kids. It's going to be just so cool to see yourself up on screen for like the first time for most of us. I'm pretty sure, yeah. It's fun. for sure like she said, but it's also kind of a scary thought, you know, something that you've made as being shown to, would you say, how many seats are there, 300? That's a big number, amount of people for you to be showing, you know, your first kind of, so automatically I'm just kind of like

a little on edge, but I know, I hope people are going to really like our films, because I know we all worked so hard on all of them. But I am very excited. I'm very excited to see myself up on the big screen and just hear laughing people and maybe like drawn into the movie. Like just seeing them like, what's going to happen? And it's also a little bit scary because like, is your film going to be good? Are the people going to like it? Who knows? Well, that's the big question, isn't it?

But, you know, that's, I think art is born from somewhere, you know, that, you know, you can't be stopped by thinking of if people are going to like it or not. Sometimes, sometimes you really do have to think about that, you know, but sometimes you got to make, you know, something that you know you'll like. And probably other people will like it too. I suspect a lot of people in this town are going to love your friends. films. This town, one of the most wonderful things about Prescott and all the cities around is that there's just so many art experiences and not only for youth, but all ages. And I think this community

is just going to be welcoming all of your films. It's going to be a wonderful night. People love things that other people are passionate about. People are very interested in seeing that. So I agree. You know, people in this town especially are definitely, I think, going to go into the this with a different experience because they're not seeing like, you know, they're not going to go see Lilo and Stitch or something, but they're coming to see, you know, the things that we've made. So it's, you know, they're automatically going in thinking, you know, these people probably got something to them. These people probably got talent behind what they've been doing. Well, I think, you know, making a film is something most people, I think, I think, you know,

only dream about, right? And, you know, is filmmaking something that's easy? It's hard, but when you go through all these classes, it becomes easier to, like, find things around your house that you can use to make films. You know, to that point, you know, it's just been so incredible to see, you know, in just this first semester of the youth film program to see how far you've come. We had actually started with five films. And then we got pitched by a couple of our students who really had this great idea. And this was just a couple weeks ago where they had this idea about this hilarious cooking show.

And because everybody had been working on films for over four months and had had all this experience, we were able to shoot. their film in one day. And you guys were incredible at, you know, not only doing that, making it happen. But, you know, even on the films where it took us, you know, weeks and weekends, that's, that's another thing we can't forget is, you know, a lot of you took a lot of time out of your weekends. Yeah, we have to thank the parents to make this happen. A lot of parents involved on weekends, too. Yes.

I mean, and, you know, definitely the parents. of Prescott get a celebration because without parents and the people who can support you behind the behind the scenes, it's really hard, you know, for a filmmaker or an artist or someone who's passionate to really kind of find that footing. I know, you know, my, you know, my folks weren't in the, in the biz, but, you know, my, my mom and dad always found a way to help me, you know, in my movie ambitions when I was young as well. So, you know, so this is not, you know, this is, this is the very first youth film program. And we definitely want to do this again. What would you say to anyone here in Prescott, you know, who, who might be considered,

you know, thinking about being a filmmaker. You should totally join this class because it's like so amazing. And being someone who did want to like really make films, it really helped me like learn how to do it. And I definitely, if you have the class again, want to come back. Just if you have an idea and if you, even if you don't have a class or an opportunity like we did, You just need to take your idea and you need to do something with it because it's not going to do anything with it by itself.

So you just need to have faith in your idea. You need to have faith in the process. And again, even if you don't have like an opportunity like we did, it's still possible. You know, many of people and by many, I mean almost all people have done it, you know, who have made big movies. you know, they started from scratch and they built their way up, you know, which is what you are kind of kind of have to do automatically. So, yeah.

I would say, like, you should really join this class. It's super fun. And you can do stuff that you could only do, like, in college or, like, in, like, 20 years, but you have, like, the opportunity, like, the opportunity to do it, like, now. and make your own film. You know, that's a really great point. I mean, a lot of, a lot of people, you know, do wait for college. You know, a lot of people think that that's, you know, that's the time that they can, you know, begin being a filmmaker. But, but yeah, you're right.

I mean, Kaiser, to your point, I mean, you know, when you have an idea, when you have a little drive and some knowledge to help turn that idea into. a reality. I mean, that's what I, that's what we really hope, um, is the big takeaway from this class. I mean, you, you, you know, 20 something friends, new friends who can, uh, you know, probably help you out on your next project. I mean, who knows. Maybe, maybe these guys will all start a production company together. I mean, that's, that's the real dream. You know, I think, uh, you know, Prescott and this community has a lot of stories and a lot of talent to share with the world. Already, I'm starting to work on ideas for a film with a few of my friends from the film class,

Clementine and Bacy. We are like coming up with this film about these cheerleaders, but we haven't done much on it yet, but we're hoping to like bring that one to life as well. well what about you guys have you been thinking about ever since you've been in this class have you been thinking about more film ideas other things you can bring to life always think about film ideas i play a video game like oh that'd be a great movie um i had an idea where like it's like a homeschool wizard um but like the instructions like the instructions to rwand are like so hard to understand and like half of them are in like Chinese or something.

And like she gets like all the spells all wrong and like can like make the world shake or something. But when she gets it right, it's not all the way right. Well, coming to a theater near you one day. And that's really great. You know, when you after you've been through an experience like this, you know, after you've, you know, developed that passion for filming. you know, you find that it does kind of seep into your lives in different ways. And you do want to, you know, express yourself and these ideas that you have. And I think that's an important thing.

It's an important thing these days. And, you know, filmmaking is very much a team sport. You know, hopefully, you know, you guys have, you know, learned that, you know, the kind of communication, the kind of planning, the kind of, you know, what working together, you know, on a set, you know, means and how to do it. But I don't know. What do you think, guys? Do we need to make more films here in Prescott?

Definitely. Yeah, totally. It's too small of a town with too much talent to not have, you know, more come out of it, you know. Exactly. you know, we really hope that the Prescott and Quad Cities community will be coming out May 27th, 5 p.m., the doors will be open to the public for the inaugural youth film program premiere event. I promise you're going to have an evening. You'll never forget, all the films are appropriate for all ages.

That was one of the mandates of the projects. but there's definitely a lot for everyone to enjoy. So on behalf of myself, Christine, our three students and all the students who couldn't be here on the podcast with us, we all hope that you join us. And we'll see you at the movies.