OSU finalists of Campus MovieFest headed to LA

Four films created and produced by Oregon State University students will be premiering at the Campus MovieFest 2011 International Grand Finale at Warner Brothers Studios in Los Angeles, Calif. Last October students were given one week to make a five-minute feature film, with all technical equipment provided. Films that won OSU's competition were given Final Cut Studio software, various Apple products and an invitation to the grand finale.


Best Picture was awarded to Breakthrough Films with their production of Hatch, a sci-fi thriller. Best Comedy was given to Teamwork Makes the Team Work with their production of The Interview, a hilarious take of the job interviewing process.

The Best Drama award was bestowed to Epoch Films with their creation of Ménage, a story of how a night out goes horrifically wrong.

Finally, the AT&T Audience Choice winner was awarded to Tungsten with their creation of Newton's Apple, a comedic yet veracious recount of Sir Isaac Newton's physics discovery.


Kenan Heppe, of team Tungsten and a chemistry major, reflects on his idea of how he came up with the concept of Newton's Apple.


"The idea for Newton's Apple was a culmination of random events," Heppe said. "My own experience at the theaters told me that people resonate well with a story that they've heard of but don't necessarily know a lot about. People usually think of Isaac Newton as a very mechanical man and I thought he deserved more justice than that."

After traveling to Europe this summer, Heppe plans to move to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.


Jeremy Peschka, of Epoch Films and a liberal studies major, grew up in Clackamas and has known most of his team since elementary school.

"We filmed and edited the entire thing in a weekend," Peschka explained. "We started late Friday night and finished filming Sunday night. Then spent all night and the next day editing. My brother, John Schulze, and I hadn't slept in about 36 hours and we had to produce our television show that night also, but overall, it was a good experience."

Epoch Films has another film being screened at the grand finale, a 3D film called Epidemic. This is Campus MovieFest's first 3D film entry.

Currently, Peschka is studying in Prague, Czech Republic, but plans on interning at a production company in Los Angeles this summer and producing a feature film this coming fall.

Starting at Emory University, Campus MovieFest is "the world's largest student film festival" according to their website, and this year is the 10th anniversary of its founding. Since then, over 500,000 students have participated in the festival across hundreds of college campuses.

Films from past winners have been shown from various locations, from an in-flight content on Virgin America to screenings at Cannes Film Festival.

"We're thrilled to invite the best student filmmakers from around the globe to celebrate their creations," said David Roemer, co-founder of Campus MovieFest. "We can't think of a more perfect location than Hollywood and we can't wait to show attendees the amazing weekend of events we've got planned."


Last year the grand finale boasted a powerful lineup of guest speakers, from comedian Jason Sudeikis of Saturday Night Live to Academy Award winner for The Hurt Locker, Mark Boal.

Evan Gütt, of Breakthrough Films, met most of his team through OSU coursework and KBVR, but coming up with a plot was the hardest part.

"The story for Hatch was developed through a series of brainstorms between myself and Daniel Cespedes, who played a big role in making this whole film come together," Gütt explains. "We went through at least four or five script ideas before we landed at the one for Hatch. Some of the ideas were very ambitious, so in the end we had to narrow it down to what we thought was doable within the given amount of time and with resources we had."


Gütt admitted to working until the very last second before the movie was due.


"But it seems like no matter how much we schedule or plan, a project like this always ends up taking longer than expected," Gütt said. "So [Daniel and myself] ended up in the situation of having to stay up the whole night before it was due, doing the special effects, editing, sounds and other touch ups. It was very nerve wracking to be working up until the very last second."


Gütt hopes to attend the University of Southern California school of cinematic arts in the fall.


Despite the film production experience of Gütt, Heppe and Peschka, all are encouraged to enter Campus MovieFest, which starts again next fall.


"One can't realistically expect a professional product doing five jobs in two weeks," Heppe explained. "But, it was still a collaborative effort between friends - we grow closer, met new people and told a story. That's all I could ask for during CMF."


For more information concerning Campus MovieFest, please visit campusmoviefest.com. All of OSU's film entries, including the winners, can be seen on YouTube.


Colin Bowyer, staff writer
737-2231 news@dailybarometer.com