Nantucket Current | Island students produce “In The Cards” for this…

Teen View, the long-running youth film class, is back with a new format. The educational program, which gives island students the opportunity to make short films screened at the Nantucket Film Festival (NFF), historically produces one film per student. This year, students collaborated to make one film, “In The Cards.”

“As a filmmaker, I quickly learned that filmmaking is a collaborative process,” said Stephanie Serra, who directed the program on behalf of Nantucket Community Television. “I wanted to bring this new experience to teenagers on Nantucket to give them a better idea of ​​movie culture.”

“At first I was a little hesitant because I did an independent film every year, but in the end I really liked it, and I think the way she structured the program was really beneficial,” said said Nantucket High School student Anna Popnikolova. has been in the program for four years. “I felt like I got a lot out of it.”

The teens were responsible for writing, filming and editing the short film, which will be screened as part of NFF's Views From Nantucket Short Film Showcase at 10:30 a.m. June 19 in the Dreamland Studio Theater. Through Teen View, students can learn from film and television professionals and gain experience with high-quality equipment. The new format allowed the process to be more professional than ever. Popnikolova said the students did scouting, prepared blocks, created call sheets and used a real slate. They even worked with a costume designer to perfect each character's look. Much of this was new to the program, bringing it closer to the experience of working on a film set.

“It was so cool,” she said. “[Serra] We set it up so that it felt like we were on a real film set and the way we were shooting felt very professional. It's nice to be in an environment where everyone takes things seriously.

“It also helped with increased accountability and wanting to be a team and work together,” Serra said. “Instead of putting the title of the film, the director and the cinematographer on the list, it was ‘teamwork makes the dream work,’ so that was really our motto.”

“In The Cards” follows a group of grieving teenagers who, faced with an impending apocalypse, choose to spend their last night together playing a role-playing game. The film was made collectively by all the students in the program and they also play the lead role. For a climactic scene, the program's assistant director, acclaimed actress Sarah Fraunfelder, helped the students develop their emotional acting skills.

“I never thought I could cry on command, but I did,” Popnikolova said. “I think this will be one of the best Teen View movies of all time.”

At 15 minutes long, it's also longer than previous Teen View films, another benefit of the group's collaboration. Several former Teen View contestants have gone on to study film in college and even worked professionally in related fields, and Serra hopes some of this year's contestants will follow in their footsteps.

“I think Teen View is a program that gives teens on the island the opportunity to try out the medium,” Serra said. “I hope everyone makes films because everyone has something to say.”