PitchNic, one of Spy Hop Productions’ most exciting programs, returns for its 22nd edition this year and this year’s class of young Utah filmmakers is looking to build on a legacy where more than 95% of films that have been produced in the program have gone on to be screened at and win awards at film festivals in the U.S. and international venues which highlight short films. It is a major event in the year as Spy Hop continues to celebrates its 25th anniversary.
For example, Trans Punk, part of the 2023 class and directed by Margo Plumb, recently screened at the Utah Queer Film Festival, sponsored by the Utah Film Center. A film from 2022, My Name is _____, directed and written by Aria Gunter with Riley Nickel as producer, won Grand Jury Honorable Mentions for Best Storytelling at this year’s Fear No Film program at the Utah Arts Festival.
The PitchNic film program at Spy Hop Productions has succeeded because student filmmakers first learn the rules of crafting a good narrative for a short film, whether it is fiction or a documentary piece, and then learn how to break them, as needed, to serve their artistic purposes. One important lifelong lesson for students is the instrumental value of pushing their creative and perceptive boundaries to find their ideal voices as a filmmaker. The premiere of four new PitchNic shorts will take place on Nov. 7, with doors open at 7 p.m. and screenings beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Jeanné Wagner Theatre at the Rose Wagner Center for Performing Arts. For tickets and more information, see the Spy Hop Productions website.
Facilitated by mentors Loren Brunken and Jon Nelson, PitchNic starts with students mastering the art of pitching compelling story ideas for their projects. Students in PitchNic know they have a high bar of quality to vault, especially as they screen and critique the films of their predecessors. The students pitch the final projects to the public for funding during the annual spring benefit for Spy Hop. They spend the summer and early fall shooting, editing and completing a polished short film. It is at that point when all of the students, regardless of whatever project they are working on, bond and support each other. Perseverance also is one of Spy Hop Productions’ most cherished values. In the program, they experience many of the same barriers and problems professionals in the movie industry confront continuously in their work.
Responding to questions The Utah Review sent by email, Brunken explained how ambitious students are after they have viewed past PitchNic films. Students, as always, are impressed by those who come before them,” she noted. “But, what has stood out about this year versus previous years is the amount of ideas and how different each one was. Each student really pulled together ideas that I have yet to see and it’s always hard seeing that only four can move onto production, because each one really had so much to it.”
From year to year, Brunken said the topics the students choose have become more mature in perspective and the approach in which they treat them in their films. “Teenagers have always and will always be led to tell the true story that pushes the boundaries. It is such an artistic time in almost everyone’s life—when we’re seeing the freedom of adulthood coming, the possibilities of life, of personality, of how we look,” she said. “So much is up in the air at that age and I think it fosters both a deeply contemplative and tumultuous time.” Noting how experimental filmmaking techniques have become more accepted on a widespread basis, Brunken explained, “I have especially noticed mainstream media’s effects with the nonfiction films I have mentored. It used to be a difficult task to get students interested in pitching nonfiction films, but with the amount of mainstream documentaries out there, this struggle has shifted.” She added, “Seeing that nonfiction films can be beautiful, fun, mesmerizing, emotional, self-exploratory has directly impacted both what the kids pitch and how many of them pitch.”
Brunken added that she treasures witnessing students go through the entire process of making a film and supporting them. “I think we as artists can get lost and give up at so many points of the process and I’m always really impressed with how these kids persevere,” she said. “I think part of the perseverance is knowing all of the students, all of the films who have come before them. It truly helps keep their faith up.”
For example, students on the Ozymandias production team met extensively outside of the PitchNic class time. “All of the Ozy shoots felt so creative, strange, and different. I always learned something new, and was challenged in whole new ways, as a mentor. A lot of it was the students proving to me they could make it work, which was a lovely reversal!,” Brunken added. With Hija, the team ensured that filming would take place wherever the subjects felt safe and comfortable. The challenge with this is that the sound in these spaces was a lot harder to control—so we’d hear airplanes, or air conditioners, or a neighbor’s dog barking,” Brunken recalled. “But, the amazing thing is that each interview subject was so immediately comfortable and they were all deep and vulnerable. The beautiful content they were able to get—with a little bit of a technical sacrifice—was really cool.”
An excellent example of the PitchNic halo legacy effect came when a filmmaker alum, Eleanor Condie, arranged for nearly 20 people associated with the Haunted House production team to travel to Manti, Utah for a three-day stay at a house believed to be haunted. It was everything you would expect: two a.m. shoots, people talking in their sleep, students forgetting their meds, everyone becoming closer and better friends than they could have imagined; by the end of it, it was about 50% of us who were convinced the place was actually haunted,” Brunken said. For Early Mourning, she recalled, “the team got up before sunrise on several occasions. Seeing kids show up to anything in general is a feat . . . before sunrise, it’s a miracle! It just really proved how dedicated everyone was to the story, and to filmmaking, in general.”
The Utah Review sent questions via email to each film’s director to talk about the process from concept to development and to production and post-production about their short film.
Early Mourning (Olivia Solomone-Halaeua, director: Topaz Henderson, director of photography; Katelyn Neal, producer, and Wayra Arias, production designer).is about a Polynesian teen struggles to make his way back on the rugby field as he navigates through guilt, grief, and loss.
1.What inspired you to develop the concept for your film?
My family. Family has always been a big part of my life and just the Polynesian/Pacific Island culture in general. Sports are also a great outlet for our people that many of us have taken on in our own lives to provide for our families. Growing up I watched many of my cousins and people of similar backgrounds become very talented athletes and in turn were provided a plethora of opportunities to further their career in sports. But then they get caught up in the wrong crowd, they fall behind in their classes, life happens, and things don’t pan out the way they would have. “What happened to so and so? They had so much potential!” “What a waste of talent!” “They would have been so great.” I hated hearing things like that and wished so much better for them. My dad even dealt with similar circumstances because of tough situations he was put in. I think sharing these experiences and acknowledging that the sports road isn’t the only way and it’s ok not to go down that path not only for athletes but my people in general is powerful. Being able to represent my people and telling authentic stories is truly a privilege and blessing.
2. Once the concept was approved and accepted for the film project, how did it evolve as you wrote the script (for the narrative) or decided the individuals, subjects, etc. to structure the documentary?
I think the most important part and actually hardest part in the writing process was developing the connections between characters that the audience could really feel. The original script I pitched, only had about 5 scenes so adding more scenes that built that connection before the climax changed a lot. The story is mostly about the brotherly relationship, and I only have sisters in my family so I could only connect so much. I did steal some of my male cousins’ mannerisms and details within their brotherly relationships. I also had my dad and mentors read and revise many of my drafts to what it is now.
2A. How did you resolve unexpected problems that arose during the production process?
With a lot of trust and patience. I think once I actually realized im directing this film I wrote, I wanted everything to be perfect. I was telling a story that means so much to me; not only am I representing myself but we’re representing my people who aren’t usually represented in these types of roles. With that being said, it was more in pre-production, casting actors to tell this story was challenging especially here in Utah. On our pickup shoot that was supposed to be our wrap day, it started pouring rain and went for the rest of the day, so we had to reschedule the entire shoot. Thankfully, we cast flexible actors, Logan Squire and Jemesa Snuka, and were able to wrap on a nice and sunny day.
3. What was the most surprising thing about filmmaking you discovered during the production process?
I think the most surprising thing about filmmaking to me was how important building relationships is. Once our films got chosen our mentors had us practice networking within our own class to solidify roles within each key crew. As a director you have to work closely with not only the actors you cast, but the cinematographer, producer, and production designer. You need to be able to trust them with your vision that soon becomes our vision as a collective. I am so glad I had the team I had and built relationships with everyone on the crew.
4. Please include information about music and sound design for your project and other significant team member contributions (for example, editing, casting, location, props, etc.).
Music has always been a big part of my life, so I knew I definitely had to carry that on to the stories I am able to tell. I wrote specific songs in the script all by Pasifika artists; the hard part was getting them all approved. Shout out to my Dad and uncle Koji’s connections to some of the artists that we were able to get their approval for the film. I am so excited to have music from Fiji, JBoog, Na Drua, and Rokkō featured in the film! We also send our films to another Spy Hop class, Audio Apprenticeship, to help clean up our audio and bring our sound goals to life. Thank you to our Spy Hop neighbors Sophia Cutrubus and Grace Riter for letting us use their home as one of our locations. Very thankful to our set dresser Oliver Day for squishing in our first AC, Riley Hastings’, car and filming our 360 car shot. Another shoutout to my mom for jumping in as Sela and playing such an emotional role as her first experience on camera. Last but not least, so blessed to have all our crew and my team DP:Topaz Henderson, Producer: Katie Neal, Production Designer: Wayra Arias, and our amazing mentors, Jon Nelson, Jose Manzo, and Loren Brunken!
A “Haunted” House (Oliver Day, director; Robbie Altman & Arthur Cummins, directors of photography; Margaret Plumb, producer, Jay Tracy, production designer) is about a documentary film student follows who two boys and their uninvited social-media-obsessed friend as they go on an unforgettable night of ghost hunting.
1. What inspired you to develop the concept for your film?
Probably the current social media landscape, as well as those very dumb “do not call at 3am challenge” videos from 2018.
2. Once the concept was approved and accepted for the film project, how did it evolve as you wrote the script (for the narrative) or decided the individuals, subjects, etc. to structure the documentary?
The idea didn’t change much from the pitch to the writing, as the script was pretty solid in itself. But small things and minor changes were made once I started talking with my team, and we all started to work on the film together and interpret it in our own way.
2A. How did you resolve unexpected problems that arose during the production process?
Getting back up and trying again. There were a lot of conversations we had about what to move forward with, but the main thing was not staying down for too long.
3. What was the most surprising thing about filmmaking you discovered during the production process?
How hard it is to get everything right. Obviously, you can’t get everything right when you’re making a film, so it’s important to embrace mistakes and be able to settle.
4. Please include information about music and sound design for your project and other significant team member contributions (for example, editing, casting, location, props, etc.).
I would say my assistant director, Maddi, was really helpful in cultivating a good set with flow. My producer Margo was also a good and stable production as well as ask any questions when they arose.
OZYMANDIAS (Madeline Aulbach, director; Riley Hastings, director of photography; Matthias Bell, producer; Theo Clement, production designer) is a hybrid documentary telling of the looming climate apocalypse, the death cult of capitalism, and the rebirth of civilization.
1. What inspired you to develop the concept for your film?
I feel as though climate change is often analyzed as though it’s merely a consequence of human prosperity and development, and not an outcome of our global economic order. As someone who’s very interested in geopolitics and political science I felt as though I had the knowledge and drive to tell this story. The decision to fuse fictional and non-fictional storytelling was done to sort of “scare people awake”, people often paradoxically respond more viscerally to fictionalized and dramatized versions of historical and historically plausible events, the 2024 film Civil War did this excellently in my opinion. We combine fiction and non fiction to scare people, to get them talking about very real issues, I want the future-trauma of tomorrow to be seared into the minds of people today.
2. Once the concept was approved and accepted for the film project, how did it evolve as you wrote the script (for the narrative) or decided the individuals, subjects, etc. to structure the documentary?
When the film was green lit I was honestly shocked, I knew I had a good pitch and a good concept, but deep down I believed that my film would be considered too experimental or too political, but to my shock the film was picked. Before the greenlight, I already knew I wanted to use a 3 act structure, and incorporate fictional elements, but it was my team who really helped me flesh out the details of the film. The writing was split up between me, my DP Riley, and my producer Matthias, we began with lots of brainstorming and vague notes, meeting up for coffee and seeing what each team member thought was necessary to tell the story. Writing was the easy part, you can make fictional characters say whatever you want, the hard part was nonfiction interviews.
2A. How did you resolve unexpected problems that arose during the production process?
We spent nearly two months trying to get in contact with expert academics, and figuring out what to ask them. We knew from the start we needed to talk to anthropologists, in order to understand humanity’s future we first needed to know our past. Eventually we were able to find interview subjects and get the footage we needed, we then spent even more time editing the interviews down, in total I believe we only used like 2% of the interview footage, which really does break my heart since there were so so many good thought provoking sound bites I would have loved to include. The some thing happened with the voice over monologue, we probably cut nearly half of what I wrote and recorded. Killing my darling was definitely one of the hardest things about making this film.
3. What was the most surprising thing about filmmaking you discovered during the production process?
During the production of the film I’ve definitely learned some valuable lessons about not letting things grow out of the scope of the project. I tend to be someone who’s constantly thinking big, I believe this is what originally helped me come up with the idea for this film, unfortunately this is often a double edged sword. I constantly wanted to add more, I always felt like just one more line would give the audience the context needed to understand the whole of the film. Eventually, a point was reached where the film could get no bigger, and I simply had to trust that the audience would understand. I guess the takeaway is not to spoon-feed people too much, you can keep giving them more and more information, but eventually you reach a point of diminishing returns where excess context no longer helps anchor the audience to the film, but instead draws them out of it.
4. Please include information about music and sound design for your project and other significant team member contributions (for example, editing, casting, location, props, etc.).
I can say with full certainty that the most important person in the production of the film has been Matthias Bell. Unlike my other team members, Riley and Theo, whom I’ve known since 2021 and birth respectively, I only met Matthias this year. He has been absolutely crucial in getting this film made, contributing insane amounts of his own time and energy into everything from writing, to editing, to organizing interviews. He has been not only an amazing producer, but an amazing friend.
Riley Hastings, my director of photography, is one of the most unique people I’ve ever met, his brain is just this vast, infinite well of creativity, it never ceases to amaze me. Id worked on his short films several times before pitchnic, but being able to see him not only adapt, but thrive working on a movie that is definitely not his usual style has been an immensely rewarding experience. Riley is one of my best friends, and I’m so proud of all he’s contributed to this film.
Theo Clement is not only my production designer, but family, and my oldest friend. They have put so much blood, sweat, and tears into this film, on top of maintaining stellar grades, and stage managing a massive school musical. While the rest of us struggled to make a dent in editing the film, Theo breezes through at remarkable speeds. They made every prop, approved every costume, and dressed every set. I’ve known Theo my entire life, and I can truly say I’ve never been so proud of them.
Hija (Abigail Tello, director; Olga Pedraza-Cano, director of photography: Katelyn Neal, producer) is a nonfiction film about Latina daughters facing family guilt and pressures on the journey from home toward independence.
1.What inspired you to develop the concept for your film?
When it came to brainstorming in the beginning stage of Pitchnic, I was personally struggling to adapt to a college life. Especially as a commuter and working student, it was hard to come up with a creative idea when my mind was scattered. I was constantly in the state of “I’m so lucky to be able to do this, I’m going to make the most out of it” and “Why do I deserve this when my parents are the ones who got me here?”. In some sense, it was so hard to make a film idea from scratch, so I took my own life as the foundation. Growing up first-generation, you always hear about how you’re not alone and many people are going through the same thing, so why not document how we all have this similar experience?
2. Once the concept was approved and accepted for the film project, how did it evolve as you wrote the script (for the narrative) or decided the individuals, subjects, etc. to structure the documentary?
Before pitch night, I had a very vivid vision for how Hija was going to look and how it was going to flow. My subjects were already chosen as they are all very close friends of mine, my sister included. I’ve grown up with them, so I had known they have felt some form of the guilt and pressure this film highlights. The first day we met with our crews I realized we had to see more about the women. I initially wanted a short, quick paced film, almost rarely seeing the subjects and more so listening to what they had to say about being first-generation. That’s when my crew made the list of what we wanted to document to feel a personal connection to Gaby, Anel, and Melany. The reason this film has so much emotion is purely because of them. Along with how freely they were able to be vulnerable with me and my crew. The biggest change was how deep we got into their lives.
2A. How did you resolve unexpected problems that arose during the production process?
The unexpected problem came during post-production. After getting all our footage, I had a clear layout of what I wanted but plugging it in wasn’t all that easy. The longer I listened and watched their responses during the interview, the harder it was to stick to the original plan. Everytime I went in to edit, I just sat in the booth for 3 hours doing nothing. Until one day where I sat with my mentor, Loren, and I just talked and talked about everything I was feeling about the film and my own life. She helped me break it all down, until we found a new structure. After that I had the first rough cut within two days, and the flow was finally in a place that I liked.
3. What was the most surprising thing about filmmaking you discovered during the production process?
I always knew filmmaking was complex, time-consuming, and took many steps to make a film; but I didn’t realize how much support and helping hands would be by my side. As a director it was scary to be asked so many questions about little things, but my crew helped me so much to help give new ideas and new solutions. Everything about a production relies on teamwork. Yes, it’s cheesy but very true.
4. Please include information about music and sound design for your project and other significant team member contributions (for example, editing, casting, location, props, etc.).
Now that Hija is at the end, this film would not be the same without my lovely subjects, for allowing us to document a difficult part of their lives. Especially for their families for letting us take over their homes for a couple hours. Another contribution is Darviin, the musician of “Ojos de Girasol”. The second I heard his song, I knew it would be beautiful in Hija. It got to the point where it was hard for me to visualize it without his music, and I’m so glad he let us use his music. He was very open to supporting the film and I was so happy to support his music!