Excitement is building for young student filmmakers and actors in the Montgomery County area. Joan See, founder of both New York’s prestigious School of Film and Television, as well as one of the largest casting facilities in the Big Apple, has notified Woodlands Young Moviemakers Contest director, Frank Eakin that she will be attending the March 20th red-carpet gala awards ceremony to be held here at Montgomery College Theatre. That is the date when the winning films will have their premier screening. Ms. See holds annual national auditions in key cities, and will schedule Houston for that weekend. Her connection to the W.Y.M. contest will mean not only that young filmmakers can be brought to her attention, but also that actors in the films will have an opportunity to be noticed by a major player in the casting industry. For added excitement, the New York School of Film & Television (one of only two accredited film acting conservatories in the U.S.) has agreed to sponsor W.Y.M. and to provide some prizes.

An actress herself, See began SFT in 1980 as one answer to the increasing need for better trained performers for television commercials. 1996 saw the accreditation of SFT by the National Association of Schools of Theatre. With its slogan, “Results You Can Act On,” the school offers training in film and television performance as well as voice-over, vocal production, improvisation and acting technique. In her own TV commercial career spanning thirty years, See appeared in over 300 spots and was the original advertising spokesperson for Final Net, Lanocaine and Spic ‘N Span. She is also founder of New York’s Three of Us Studios, which has rapidly become one of the largest and most successful casting facilities on the East Coast. See introduced the idea of “Actors in Advertising,” thus beginning the development of a structured approach to auditioning for commercials that involved acting techniques and skills that would revolutionize the industry. She is also the author of Acting in Commercials, a Guide to Auditioning and Performing On-camera.

Area students (elementary through high school) who are interested in entering the W.Y.M. contest should check the contest website. For contest & workshop application forms and a complete list of contest rules, deadlines, film categories, and other contest details, go to www.woodlandsonline.com and click on the front-page link to Woodlands Young Moviemakers, or on the Contests link. E-mail inquiries may be addressed to:

PapillonMovies@aol.com

(The Courier    10.31.04)