“The Milwaukee Youth Show” – a youth-skewing offshoot of the Milwaukee Film Festival’s popular “The Milwaukee Show,” an annual showcase of the best shorts from local filmmakers – made its inaugural bow on Saturday, Sept. 29 at the Oriental Theatre.
Milwaukee Film’s Education Director Susan Kerns, has long wanted to implement a similar showcase for local filmmaking youth. An educator and filmmaker in her own right (in 2010, she co-founded a production company, Gal Friday Films, with Kara Mulrooney) and a major force behind Milwaukee Film’s Collaborative Cinema program which “provides high school students, college students, and emerging film professionals with an enhanced understanding of filmmaking at all stages.”
“People had mentioned the idea [for the Milwaukee Youth Show] in the past,” Kerns says, “and this year I made the time to really make it happen. A lot of film festivals are showcasing works by young people, and since we have so much talent in the greater Milwaukee area, we wanted to do the same.
“Plus, The Milwaukee Show is such a great event that I wanted to create something similar for younger kids and really ignite their passion for showing films to an audience. How many 12-year-olds get to premiere a film at The Oriental Theatre? It’s a uniquely Milwaukee opportunity, and I’m thrilled we’re able to offer it!”
For films to be taken into consideration for the Milwaukee Youth Show, the primary filmmaker (i.e. the director) has to be 18 years old or younger. However, the involvement of people over 18 in other capacities can vary from project to project. Many teens submitted class projects where their teachers presumably helped to shape the final films, Kerns says.
There were submissions from organizations such as the Boys & Girls Clubs and Arts@Large, and teens who’ve worked on Collaborative Cinema projects also submitted films to the Milwaukee Youth Show. Kerns says that several had been involved with the Collaborative Cinema screenwriting program. “It’s nice to see that crossover already, and I’m hoping it continues,” she says.
There were approximately 60 submissions for the show’s inaugural year which made for a challenging, yet enjoyable screening and selection process. Twenty were ultimately selected for inclusion. “We tried to choose a sampling of all of the different kinds of films that were submitted – from stop-motion animation to longer fiction and documentary/essay films,” she says. “We have a great variety.”
Prior to its official festival debut, Kerns had high hopes for the future of the Milwaukee Youth Show, and according to audience attendance figures and post-screening feedback, all signs indicate that the showcase will become a permanent fixture of the festival. The Milwaukee Children’s Film Festival experienced “dramatic growth” for the second straight year, with attendance of just over 9,000 or a 145 percent growth over the 2011 edition. Not only did the Milwaukee Youth Show play to a large and receptive crowd, numerous attendees asked if there were plans for any additional festival screenings of the showcase.
“People were very excited about [it],” Kerns says. “This was the first year. We sold out the smaller theater at the Oriental, so we had to move it into the main house, which is tremendous!”
Of the 20 shorts shown during the 53-minute showcase, Kerns says that a horror film Creature of the Dark by Thomas Fleischmann, age 12, and teenager Matthew Klein’s personal portrait of his cello teacher garnered the biggest audience responses. “Matthew flew in from Boston to be in attendance and was incredibly engaging and enthusiastic with the audience,” Kerns says. “I was really impressed by how eloquent these young people are about their work. Overall, I got the impression people enjoyed the show throughout, and I think the variety of styles helped engage the audience in different ways. The films that were meant to get laughs got them, and numerous people mentioned the high quality of filmmaking.”
Kerns is thrilled with the amount of support the city threw behind the launch of the Milwaukee Youth Show. “Milwaukee always has been a huge supporter of local film, and it’s terrific to see this extend to our younger filmmakers,” she says. “It’s exceptional, really.”
