FHS Students Earn Trip to Austin Film Festival
Published October 30, 2015
Two Franklin High School students will travel to Texas this weekend where their short film Roadblock will be featured at one of the top film festivals in the nation.
FHS seniors Mckenna Martin and Christian Whittemore wrote and directed the short, which is one of seven to be screened in the Austin Film Festivals’s showcase for the Young Filmmaker’s Competition.
The film, which has already won the award for Best Fiction from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, is based on McKenna’s former fear of driving and features FHS theater teacher Mark Saltalamachia as an obnoxious driving instructor and 2015 FHS graduate Michael Castellon as a fearful driving student. Whittemore provided cinematography and wrote the original score.
“I developed the basic story behind Roadblock two summers ago while in California,” said McKenna. “After flipping a four-wheeler at my friend’s lake house, I developed a severe fear of vehicles and actually had recurring dreams about crashing cars. Each of the hallucinations in Roadblock was directly based on a nightmare I had.”
Both students say they feel honored to attend such a prestigious film festival, and they’re excited to hear from the many professionals who will be at this year’s event.
“There’s something awesome about sitting in an audience and watching the crowd’s reaction to every moment of the short,” said Christian. “On top of that, we’re gonna have the ability to hear guest speakers talk about different aspects of film and how they all come together to make an amazing experience.”
According to McKenna, the success of Roadblock would not have been possible without the support of the Franklin High media program.
“I didn’t even want to pursue film professionally until I took the class,” said McKenna. “I learned so much and was able to fall in love with a craft. It’s a great department that is very nurturing.”
It’s a sentiment Christian shares.
“The broadcasting program at Franklin High helped make this short happen” said Christian. “Our teacher, Keri Thompson, got us to submit the film to the 2015 National Academy of Television Arts & Science Awards and encouraged us to go after even more festivals and competitions, leading to where we are now.”