In the Unbranded Broadcast room, staff reporters are commonly found working on school event film montages. Apart from their usual school report videos, however, they strive to improve as youth filmmakers by exploring their own artistic styles through original short films. That creative experimentation recently paid off for one team: Dylan Hollomon, 11, Cameron Johnson, 11 and Katelyn Kennedy, 11, entered their narrative film at the UIL Young Filmmakers Festival and placed in the top six statewide, being the first to advance to state-level film competition in Maverick history. The state send-off will take place next week, and the UIL State Film Festival will be held on Feb. 26 at AISD Performing Arts Center in Austin. Looking ahead to their state round, three staff reporters share their journey of how they produced the film.
Titled “The Literary Adventures of Dylan and Cam,” the film weaves rich storytelling, cinematography and editing skills that effectively showcases distinct strengths of each filmmaker in the team. Hollomon walks through the primary ideas of their complex film.
“The message we were mainly going for was teamwork and unity,” Hollomon said. “Because the whole film, they’re kind of arguing, [and] they’re not really going with each other’s ideas. Then, at the end, Cameron … realizes the reason we couldn’t get a film idea was because we weren’t working together. So, once we work together, we figure out an idea and that’s how they kind of come to the conclusion.”
Every year, UIL Young Filmmakers Festival receives hundreds of film entries, which makes it critical that films stand out in order to have a chance of placing in the competition. Johnson shares his impressions of what distinguished their submission from other films.
“A lot of UIL films have some humor in [them], but [they’re usually] about death, drugs or something like that,” Johnson said. “Obviously, it’s a way to raise awareness, but I feel like … we’re just good at comedy. So, I think comedy is what sets us apart from the other films.”
Yet, even with the film’s unique edge, advancing to state among hundreds of other entries itself remains a significant achievement of note. To the team, the huge success in the competition meant more than just the accomplishment itself.
“It raised our confidence a lot. Because in the past, when we brought ‘Dam Vlogs’ to people, which is our YouTube [channel] name, I saw that it’s been hard for [people] to consider us as good cinematographers, since we’re just high schoolers,” Hollomon said. “But then, like this process, especially with the whole announcement to the whole school, it raised our confidence because it means that we’re just as good as any other high school filmmakers when we are put into the right scenario.”
Behind their masterful film, however, lie countless hours of intensive work and hardship the team pushed through.
“It takes time. We finished filming in December and had to get the film out [by] the end of January,” Johnson said. “After we’re done filming, I still had to go home, edit it and find all the music. Sometimes, they can get really tiring … but you just have to keep pushing because if [we] just gave up, … we wouldn’t have been where we are right now.”
While there may have been a series of challenges to overcome, the production journey also presented proud and memorable moments that made the film all the more compelling and meaningful.
“The part that I’m most proud of is our brainstorming and willingness to go out of our comfort zone,” Hollomon said. “One thing we hadn’t done a lot was testing with new genres. In our past films, it’s kind of been a comedic film. But we really decided like, ‘let’s travel through a bunch of different genres [first].’”
It is vital for filmmakers to hone their skills, explore diverse types of film styles and manage their production journey efficiently. However, a dose of lightheartedness and friendship was what really allowed them to showcase their character and values in the film.
“I think the genuine friendship that Dylan and Cam have really comes through in the film,” Kennedy said. “We hold ourselves to high standards, [and] use our collective strengths to produce the best story, acting and editing. We make films for fun, and being recognized at the state level has really encouraged us to continue making films that we love.”
In addition to the special chemistry between teammates, their true source of motivation comes from none other than their audience.
“Seeing people’s reactions to my films inspires me the most, because after we edit … I’m waiting for [the film] to get out, so I can see people’s reaction,” Johnson said. “When I actually see their reaction, it brings me so much joy. It’s so cool to [know that] I’m making people laugh and making people have fun.”
Combined with all their challenges, long hours of work and rewarding outcomes, the production journey left them with a noteworthy lesson to take hold going forward.
“When we first set out to make this film, we had some really big ideas to do multiple scenes with multiple locations and with multiple costume changes. It seemed overwhelming at first … but it came together beautifully,” Kennedy said. “Don’t let the size or scale of an idea prevent you from trying to do it.”
Compared to other fields, film production would be incomplete without a sense of camaraderie and trust between collaborators.
“They’re all such amazing people to work with. They’re so creative, they’re so kind and they’re definitely like my best friends,” Hollomon said. “By doing this, I get to create art with my best friends, and it’s something that I don’t take for granted, because not everybody gets that opportunity.”
Best of luck to Dylan, Cameron and Katelyn, who will compete at the state-level competition next week! Regardless of the state result, their film project is already an achievement worth celebrating and remembering.
