FilmNorth program aims to inspire tomorrow's filmmakers

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Summer is in full swing, but some young people in the Twin Cities are learning visual storytelling, filmmaking, and editing through week-long camps.

"I like to tell stories and I think movies are the best way to do that," said Shannon Hass-Williams, a 13-year-old FilmNorth student.

Teens like Hass-Williams and Chloe Yates already have basic filmmaking skills thanks to cell phones.

"I make little like 10-second, 30-second edits on TikTok and then I post longer cinematic trailers on my YouTube channel," said Chloe Yates, a 15-year-old FilmNorth student.

They are among a group of aspiring storytellers, filmmakers, and editors taking part in one of several weeklong summer camps at FilmNorth in St. Paul.

"There's always two things the kids are looking for. One, someone to listen to what they're saying. And then two, a place to say it," said Robert Ndondo-Lay, youth program director for FilmNorth.

Their creativity and self-expression come through in music video production, cinematography, and this week's coursework -- movie editing.

"They're already interpreting what they're seeing. They're all working with the same footage but they're going to make eight different edits," said Khalid Ali, editing instructor for FilmNorth.

After just 15 hours of self-paced work, some impressive final projects.

"They'll do these really incredible, intricate advanced techniques that they don't have the vocabulary to put towards, but you can tell maybe this kid would be a strong editor or a production director or director or producer so a large part of that is them finding their way," said Ndondo-Lay.

Then there are kids like Shannon and Chloe who already have an idea.

"Directing but most of the time If were to make a movie, I would probably write it myself, said Hass-Williams.

"Film editing or acting. Both are my top two passions. Both bring a lot of meaning to me," said Yates.

"Then, how do we get you there? One of the things that's really important to me is giving kids options," said Ndondo-Lay.

A new option from the nonprofit this fall, a lab-intensive designed for aspiring filmmakers in high school.

"Over the course of a semester they would essentially focus on thirteen cinematic disciplines," explained Ndondo-Lay.

Another developing program called "Tech Scout" will target post-high school filmmakers and media artists.

"Those are essentially guided tours in which they would learn the procedures and processes for different media production entities around the Twin Cities," said Ndondo-Lay.

All of it is designed to give the next generation of creatives the tools they need to tell their stories.

For Yates, that means combining music and movies.

"Being a theatre kid, music is definitely something I love and would like to learn more about," said Yates.

Hass-Williams wouldn't mind making an independent horror film.

"I mean, hopefully I can make money off of that," said Hass-Williams.

Applications are now open for the Studio 13 Future Filmmakers Lab for high schoolers. The deadline is Aug. 18.