Charley Horse

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• Annual GFS international thesis film
• Shot on-location in Tel Aviv, Israel
• Accepted to and screened at Bentonville Film Festival in 2018
• Traveled to Tel Aviv to shoot 2017's thesis film
• Assistant Director, managing a
  26-piece crew (18 Israeli crew members, eight American)
• One of eight students chosen to be on the crew of the annual thesis
  international film. Competed against class of 35 students.
• Age 15 for duration of production process 

Every year, the Ghetto Film School (GFS) Fellows Program culminates with the International Thesis Project, a real world production experience where a select group of students creates a short film in an international city. 

After being told where Thesis would be taking place (i.e. Israel), my classmates and I all wrote scripts that took place in the selected country.  Over the course of a few weeks, we read each script and, as a class, voted for the script we believed was strongest.  Then, students who were interested in doing so pitched to the class for director, which was chosen by us, the students.  Soon after, my classmates and I pitched for the remaining seven crew positions.  When the director made crew decisions, we were notified and the Thesis crew and I dove into official pre-production!

As assistant director (AD), I was incredibly involved in the pre-production process. I made hundreds of drafts of production documents, which included things like location plans, call sheets, script breakdowns, and more. I was responsible for coordinating communication with our crew in Israel, which meant organizing and leading production calls/emails.  Additionally, I was responsible for overseeing and creating deadlines for my crew-mates' production documents.

Production:

We were in Israel for a week and a half, and had a total of four shooting days (the fourth day being a day for pick-ups).  When we weren't filming, we were either eating, sleeping, having a production meeting, or occasionally, exploring Israel. Our shooting days lasted anywhere from 11-13 hours, mostly taking place in the night until the early morning. As AD, I was in charge of all things logistics and safety, which meant I had to be in constant communication with our 26-piece crew (18 Israeli crew members,  eight American) and three equipment vans.  I took us through the day and had to make sure that we were on schedule, and if we weren't, I worked with the director and DP to problem-solve and compromise.  

Post-Production:

I took on the role of post-production producer, which meant I was responsible for attending both offline and online editing sessions.  I took notes for the editor and assisted with providing timecode for subtitles.  

The crew and I were given the amazing opportunity to attend Bentonville Film Festival in 2018 as filmmakers. At the festival, Charley Horse was screened and we participated in a panel discussion.  It was a lovely feeling to be able to see that the film my friends and I worked so hard on was able to affect others on a personal level.  

Though this was my first time working as AD on any film project, and though it was stressful and difficult at times, I would not change anything about it.  Because I oversaw the film from start to finish and played an active role throughout the production process, by the end of everything, I feel more confident with my skills not only as an AD but also as a leader and team member. 

*note* - thank you GFS for providing me with opportunities like these, and thank you for preparing me for them by giving my classmates and me the necessary tools and education.  i am, and always will be, thankful for everything you have done for me and young storytellers.