Variety
Variety reports that young filmmakers are blooming with new cinema tools and event, such as a special youth festival circuit popping up to showcase the best of the bunch. Chicago Children’s Film Festival founder Nicole Dreiske has noted the quality of independently made youth pics has improved in recent years. Other festivals, from Los Angeles to Tribeca, feature sidebars for student-created work, but young filmmakers chafe at the idea of being stuck at the kids’ table. “Every big festival wants to have a youth section to seem like they’re supporting young filmmakers, but they separate it out so much from the rest of the festival,” says 23-year-old Jesse Harris, who persuaded his parents to let him skip college and spend the money it would have cost making his feature debut, “Living Life.” In 2007, Harris co-founded Seattle’s own National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY) for work created by helmers 22 and under. This year, the event screened 113 films for more than 4,000 people over the course of three days, dividing entries (nearly all shorts) by category, rather than by age.