Local teens enter national film contest sponsored by Apple Inc.
By Sophia Fischer sfischer@theacorn.com

A group of local high school students needs the community's support to make their short film a winner.

The teens entered their threeminute film, "I Dream of Darjeeling" in a 24-hour national film competition for high school and college students sponsored by computer giant Apple Inc.

The film can be seen online, and viewers can vote until tomorrow, Fri., Nov. 9, as part of the Insomnia Film Festival.

Agoura High School students Mor Weizman, John Garcia, Natalie Nacson and Erica Leshon, along with Cameron Dutra of Santa Monica High School, decided to enter the competition together.

The students take an afterschool film class at Indian Hills High School in Calabasas, taught by Eric Gersh, so they named their team Gersh's Army.

"Although we knew it would be a stressful 24 hours, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we just could not pass up," Weizman said. "We also wanted to challenge ourselves and see how good a film we could produce."

Contest entrants were required to include three elements in their films that revolved around props, dialogue and settings. Some of the elements on the list included radio static, a park bench, a tuxedo and a dream sequence.

Beginning at 6 a.m. Sat., Oct. 13 participants had 24 hours to write, cast, shoot, edit, score and upload their threeminute masterpieces. Weizman described the 24 hours as "an adventure and wonderful experience.

"From the cliffs of Piuma, to Malibu beach, and even to the Do-it Center to buy a light switch, we ran around like madmen trying to create the perfect film," he said.

"Standing on top of a 300foot cliff surrounded by fog was a thrilling way to begin our day. After filming for over 12 hours, our late night editing began.

"Although we were extremely tired," Weizman said, "we pushed through, even to create all original music. As 6 a.m. crept closer, the atmosphere became hectic. Our lack of sleep made it even more difficult to deal with the pressure. Before we knew it, our movie was complete and submitted at 5:48 a.m., just in the nick of time."

Gersh's Army chose to tell a story that revolves around a boy who thinks he has lost his prized baseball. The character is shown running through space, the forest and underwater in search of his ball. The group came up with the idea over pizza.

Parts of the film came from an actual dream of Dutra's. Weizman called the film surreal and visual.

"We all aspire to be filmmakers, and winning this competition will help us in this process," Weizman said. "Hopefully our effort shows in our film and every one can enjoy it. To win the competition would bring joy to our hearts and make a name for our community. It would also show that everyone can reach their dreams if they work hard enough." The 25 entries with the greatest number of online votes will be screened by industry professionals such as Nora Ephron, Barry Sonnenfeld and James Mangold.

The winners will receive a MacBook Pro and professional editing software.

Votes may be cast at www.edcommunity.apple.com and follow the links.