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Let’s just kick this off by saying that these last few weeks have been among the greatest. Last week we completed finals and handed in our last few assignments. It’s a bittersweet feeling. But the week before, a number of us represented the school in the Imagine Film Challenge 2014, and finished 2^nd place statewide.

The Imagine Film Challenge was sponsored by ShortsHD, in partnership with ESPN Films. It was a 48-hour filmmaking challenge, run during the National Cable & Telecommunications Association’s annual conference The Cable Show 2014, in Los Angeles. The challenge was open to film schools throughout California, and the top four submissions were selected for production. The #ColumbiaWildcats made the cut and we were up against the #GlobalFilmmakers from Loyola Marymount, #KhrispLA from UCLA, and #TheBrokenSlates from The New York Film Academy.

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I came into the producing program to delve deeper into story development. Beforehand I had written, produced, and directed a number of shorts. Looking back on those films I know the main flaws were in development, or a lack thereof. But this time, taking everything I’ve learned these past few years about story and character development back into the directing chair, made all the difference.

In development the producer is generally the leading creative force, but when it comes to set, more often than not the producer is the logically minded one. Between physical production and assistant directing a number of shorts these past few years, I’d become accustomed to the logical side. I guess I forgot how emotionally minded you have to be as the director while on set. The depth of the emotional journey that myself and the cast took was mind-blowing. I’ve been an emotional wreck since.

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There’s a bunch of finishing we’re going to do to the film; it needs color and more sound design, and some moments need to breath a little more, but for the sake of a 48-hour filmmaking challenge, we couldn’t be prouder of what we pulled off. Forward to the 10:30 mark to see our film. The film that beat us to the top spot, from the New York Film Academy’s #BrokenSlates, is at 24:45.

From all the Wildcats; thank you to everyone that made this happen.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZdVCrIlE7M&list=PL_oNY7GdcTjFjQwSwaFENOOQLvfaNIJ8P[/youtube]