Lights, Camera, Action: A successful return of the KCBY-TV film festival
Coppell High School junior Swarra Mudgalkar interviews CHS seniors Mau Sigler and Graham Gorman on the red carpet in the CHS vestibule prior to the KCBY-TV Film Fest commencing on Friday. The film festival was revived after a decade-long hiatus and showcased three different types of segments including broadcast, sports and special features and attendees had the opportunity to vote for their favorite segments of each act throughout the night.
April 5, 2023
The red carpet is filled with decadent outfits and excited chatter. As the audience settles into their seats, the lights dim. A hush falls over the room as the screen comes to life.
On Friday, Coppell High School’s KCBY-TV hosted its Film Fest in the CHS Auditorium. After a decade-long hiatus, the fest was revived by the current senior class.
Coppell senior Senior program directors Lauren Beach and Coppell senior program director Betsy Krenek learned of the previous film fest and decided to work on bringing it to life again.
“For the past year, we have been compiling the best of KCBY and some of our top segments,” Beach said. “We also had multiple short films other people submitted.”
KCBY-TV worked alongside New Tech High @ Coppell’s broadcasting program FUZE to present student journalism and filmmaking at its finest.
The film fest had two acts with an intermission in between. At the time, the raffle prize winners were drawn.
At the end of each act, the audience was able to select its favorite film in different categories. After the emcees of the night, Coppell seniors Graham Gordan, Mau Sigler and Lauren Beach, tallied the results, the winning teams were presented with trophies signaling their achievement.
“It was chaotic filming, but it turned out well in the end,” said KCBY-TV senior special projects director Fatima Syed, winner of Broadcast Film. “I am really glad it was able to air on show as it is my last year.”
One of the reasons why the fest was put on hiatus is because of the amount of effort needed to put on the show. In the end, the staff was dedicated to bringing the vision to life.
“I was hesitant because of how much work it is, but I am so proud of how my seniors pulled through.” KCBY-TV adviser Irma Kennedy said. “I was able to take more of a back seat this year.”
The content ranged from the cost of senior year to the ability to time travel to surprise birthday parties, making the audience move from laughter to tears in their eyes. Each film had one thing in common: its quality producers.
“‘Happy Birthday Sid was all the creative vision of Issac Mercado,” Coppell junior Sid Gunasekaran said. “The ideas he cranks out of his head arter beautiful, genuine and I am so inspired to be an actor in one of his short films.”
The event means more to the senior staffers; to them, it acts as one of their final performances of high school.
“This whole experience of KCBY has helped me greatly because I want to go into this field of making movies,” KCBY-TV senior special features director Graham Gorman said. “It is not very common to have this opportunity in high school.”
The event allowed a group of people invested in student film study to come together and appreciate various short films. The night acted not only as a screening, but as a way of bonding.
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