Filmmaking Workshop For High School
Ages 14-18
Overview
Aspiring young producers and actors are invited to dive into the creative and exciting world of filmmaking. Film pre-production, production, and post-production will be covered in this two-week program. Skills such as directing, videography, location sound, and editing with professional software will be taught. Students will collaborate in instructor-supervised groups to plan, shoot, and edit short films. Final projects will be premiered on the last day!
Early registration encouraged – spots for this program fill quickly.
Ages: 14-18 (rising grades 9 – 12)
Dates: July 24-August 4, 2023 (two weeks)
9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Tuition: $914
Location: Mason Fairfax Campus, Art & Design Building
Covid Safety Information
- Mason Community Arts Academy follows all safety protocols required by George Mason University. Visit our COVID Safety Guidelines for more information.
- Mask & PPE Requirements—Masks are optional, but strongly recommended, for students and faculty in all programming. *See University Policy on Face Coverings for full details.
- George Mason Offers Covid Vaccine Appointments
Program Faculty
Lisa Thrasher
Instructor
Mason Film and Video Studies Professor
Producer Lisa Thrasher is an entertainment lawyer and Producer with 20 years of experience in Hollywood. Lisa has produced fiction films with some of Hollywood’s top female film and TV creators. Lisa’s films have achieved critical and commercial success receiving domestic and international, commercial distribution; screening at over 900 film festivals; winning over 80 awards, including a local Emmy and, a Student “Academy Award” Nomination. For over a decade, Lisa co-headed POWER UP Films, a Los Angeles film production company for women and the LGBTQ community.
As President of Film Production & Distribution, Lisa oversaw development, production and distribution of all filmed entertainment, including: the romantic-comedy features “Girltrash: All Night Long” and the award-winning “Itty Bitty Titty Committee” (Berlinale “Teddy Award” Nominee, South by Southwest “Best Narrative Feature Jury Award); “Get to Know Us First” PSA (NBC, ABC, CBS); “Little Black Boot,” (Sundance); “Billy’s Dad is a Fudge-Packer” (Sundance); “Stuck” (Sundance “Honorable Mention”); and “DEBS” (Sundance, Berlinale “Best Short”).
Ben Steger
Director
Mason Film & Video Studies Professor
Read more about Ben
Benjamin Steger has been making films and videos since the 1990’s. He has considerable experience as a director, producer, documentary cinematographer, editor, and sound recordist for documentary, fiction and institutional films. He holds an M.F.A. in Film and Video from Columbia College Chicago and a B.A. in Theater and Film from the University of Kansas.
His latest project, Vibrations, is a documentary series on contemporary world music, the first season focusing on the music cultures of Southeast Asia. The project received a 2018 Summer Impact Grant from George Mason University’s Office of the Provost which enabled four Mason undergraduate Film and Video Studies students to work with Steger in Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam on the series.
His documentary, Stage Four: A Love Story, was awarded “Best International Feature Length Documentary” at the 2016 DOCFeed Documentary Festival in the Netherlands and “Best Feature Length Documentary” at the 69th Annual University Film and Video Association International Conference in 2015.
Left Field, a feature length documentary directed by Steger about an oddball community of artists, musicians and misfits that coalesce around the grade school game of kickball, screened at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago as well as the Austin, DocuWest and DocuFest film festivals among many others.
Great Bend, a short fiction film written and directed by Steger was selected as a “Critic’s Pick—Best of Festival” at the 2006 Kansas City Filmmakers Jubilee by film critic Robert Butler of the Kansas City Star.
Steger was commissioned by the National Park Service to create two short videos that were made in cooperation with George Mason’s Center for Climate Change Communication. Mason students and alumni acted as crew, gaining valuable experience and employment.
Adapting for the Future: National Parks and Climate Change Resilience screened at the 2016 Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital while Stewards of the Parks won Best Film in the Hope Category at the Film Festival for Climate Change in Portland, Oregon.
Steger has been nominated three times for Mason’s Teaching Excellence Award and once for Mason’s OSCAR Mentoring Excellence Award. He created and directs the Mason Community Arts Academy Film and Video Summer camp for adolescents.
- MFA, Film and Video, Columbia College Chicago
- BA, Theater and Film, University of Kansas
Notes
- Please note that group classes are subject to cancellation if minimum enrollment is not reached.
- Be sure to check our policies and procedures regarding registration, withdrawals, refunds, and more for summer group classes.
- All students will receive a Welcome Letter via email at least 1 week before the class starts with all necessary details.
- Online registration closes 2 business days before the first class, however space may still be available. Please contact academy@gmu.edu for more information. A $10 late registration fee may apply.
- For additional information, please contact the Academy at academy@gmu.edu.
