Whereas the first festival took the theme of “Premiere the Problem” in 2024, this year turned the opposite direction and BATS members found a lot more positivity beyond the theme. For starters, there was more interest as 15 teams signed up, up from nine with several returning, although 13 competed.
“They were really committed,” said BATS member Emerson Babian. “We had a lot of positive numbers.”
BATS member Abigail Cosby was thrilled by the number of filmmakers and attendees.
“It’s always a surprise. It shows that youths are so creative and they want these types of outlets,” said Cosby.
After receiving instructions on using the three requirements on a Friday evening, the teams had free reign to make their films as they saw them over Saturday and Sunday, exploring a variety of genres including comedy, horror, dark humor, sports, thriller, action-adventure and some teams incorporated video games and animals.
BATS members led by Sophia Lopez found more fundraising opportunities at state and local levels including large sponsors such as Youth to Youth International and Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation, which allowed $2,000 in prize money divided among the top films.
There were top two places each awarded for Adherence to Assignment, Artistic Merit and People’s Choice.
Two former Springfielders working in New York City for prestigious employers were celebrity judges for the first two awards: Sage Boggs, a writer for “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and Thomas Edwards, who is in his senior year at Columbia University and is the content creator for The Empire State Building.
Edwards, a 2021 Springfield High School graduate, knows some of the kids through various programs and found this a perfect way to give back to the community. He met BATS adult advisor Beth Dixon when she was his Power of the Pen coach at Ridgewood School.
“If I was still in school, I would have been all over this program,” said Edwards, who is in Columbia’s film and media studies program. “It’s a unique spin in letting the kids have input. What also makes it cool is it’s in this theater. The State is a piece of history and part of a new narrative in Springfield. I have so much pride in this town.”
One of last year’s award winners as an eighth grader came back stronger than ever to claim two awards with her group Dragonfly Productions: first place in Artistic Merit and runner-up in People’s Choice for “Fall in Love with a Girl.”
McGregor, who made the film with Aria Mills and Landon Owen, juggled making their film with participating in the Ohio High School Mock Trial in Columbus, even shooting part of it in a hotel room.
A music fan, McGregor got inspired by a song and imagined the scenario for the story, which was different to her project last year about teen grief.
“I wanted to bring awareness, a subject brought to light I thought was important. People underestimate what kids can do and this is a showcase for what youth can do,” McGregor said.
Mills said the film was about being open-minded and learning to be who you are, with the final video using lots of symbolism. Owen had maybe the hardest part, portraying a boy who gets slapped, enduring it three different times to get the take right, but with good humor.
Claiming first in the Adherence to Assignment Award was “Red Mark” by the production team of Goonie Central with Hunter Barone, Robert Elliot and Oliver Kuss-Shivler. Kuss-Shivler, a Global Impact STEM Academy student, said he saw a poster in one of his classes for the event and got his friends from Springfield-Clark Career Technology Center to participate and found the experience great.
Runner-up in Adherence to Assignment was “Talk” by Incidental Productions with Em Back and Grayson Peters, while “Magic Marker” by Vibe Team, Edwin Junior Casseus, Jhoodley Tilian, Wilkens Voltaire, Johndly Meliard and Alicia Lynn Geneus got second in Artistic Merit.
BATS members didn’t just spend time putting on the event, they also participated. Addie Powell and Terra Choi’s production team Default Text earned the People’s Choice selection for “At Least…” that emphasized humor while enduring trying circumstances.
Powell and Choi did their film around their responsibilities for putting on the festival and performing in a production of “Beetlejuice Jr.” over the weekend.
In between the films, BATS presented a series of PSA spots they recorded recently at WYSO, covering a variety of topics. It’s part of the program’s mission of prevention.
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With the success of the second festival, BATS members hope to continue the late winter tradition for years to come. The films will be uploaded to the BATS Facebook page in the future at www.facebook.com/BringingAwarenessToStudents/. BATS is a program of WellSpring.
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