GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY — Riley Bockhol and Stuart Nottke, students at the North Education Career Tech Center in Traverse City, are heading to New York City to showcase a short film they are creating. The duo earned the opportunity after winning a national pitch contest for their film titled “Finding You Again.”
The students secured their spot by winning the All-American High School Film Festival Pitch Contest last year. As the winners of the contest, they received a professional camera kit which they are using to produce the film. The story follows two girls navigating their first year of high school.
Bockhol, a film and new media student, developed the concept based on her desire for more stories featuring female leads. The plot focuses on two girls entering their first year of high school with different social motivations. “One is content with her lifestyle,” Bockhol said. “The other one, she wants to kind of fit in with the crowd more and become popular. She just doesn’t really want to be the odd one out.” Bockhol said the characters eventually have a falling out, leading to a surprise ending.
Bockhol recalled learning about their contest win while she was eating cereal and talking to a friend on the phone. “I got an email and it was like, pitch video is an award winner now,” Bockhol said. After hanging up, she immediately called Nottke to share the news, though she said she initially hesitated to celebrate until she was certain the results were correct.
The students are currently finalizing the script and beginning the casting process. Nottke, who is also a film and new media student, noted that the team is nearly finished with the writing stage. “We are mostly through with the script and we’re working on other kinds of pre-production,” Nottke said. He added that while he does not have a “reference point” for such a large project, he is looking forward to the experience.
Bockhol said she is eager to move beyond the planning stages and begin filming. “Once we get out of pre-production we’re going to start production, which I’m really excited about,” Bockhol said. “I think that will be a lot more fun than pre-production. And after that, we’re going to edit and submit it and go to New York.” Bockhol described the opportunity as a “cool experience” that she did not expect to happen.
Production for “Finding You Again” is scheduled to begin in March. Once the 10-minute movie is filmed and edited, the students will travel to New York City in October for the All-American High School Film Festival. If the film wins at the festival, the pair will receive a prize valued at $5,000.