Overview

Scotts Valley High School’s Video Productions program has become recognized for its excellence by not only the students, community, and the press, but also educators and fans spanning around the globe. Founded in 2003, Video Productions is among the most unique and successful filmmaking classes in the nation.

Video Productions is unique in that it is primarily taught by the students themselves. The class was created and taught by Drew Mylrea, Daniel Hollister, and Brian Firenzi, three talented high school seniors with the support and guidance of Drama teacher and department head Karin Babbitt, and in the years to follow, it has been tradition that the best junior-year students from each year will become the teachers of the class during their senior year.

This approach has worked wonders—and the world has taken notice. As a result of their daring approach to education, Video Productions has become known for the excellent quality of its students’ work, surpassing not only that of most high school programs, but also that of many universities. Video Productions students have not only gone on to great film schools, but many have received acclaim and employment in the film industry based solely on their work created in the class. The class has been featured in numerous publications and on television. Educators from around the country have visited the class to learn about its unique and successful program, and students have transferred in from other schools purely to take this course. Tens of thousands of people from around the world have followed along on the website to catch a glimpse of the students’ work, and even learn filmmaking themselves using the course’s online lessons.

Combining the latest technology with a strong foundation in filmmaking theory, Video Productions is a course designed to teach students how to create a film, and covers the preproduction, screenwriting, production, editing, and marketing of traditional films. Students leave having shot several short films, a longer film, a commercial, a music video, and also having written an 80-page screenplay. The beauty of the class is that it contains everything the student needs to grasp filmmaking as a whole. While other courses focus mostly on the technical aspects and others solely on creativity, Video Productions strikes the perfect balance, teaching their students how to utilize the tools around them to create amazing pieces of work while nurturing their creativity.

Now in its sixth successful year, the class is being led by Karin Babbitt with the assistance of former students Jonathan Schlaepfer, Troy Gianopoulos, Ryan Benoit, Zack Epperson, and Grady Brannan. Video Productions is back and better than ever, and we invite you to follow along with our progress and enjoy the ride. We sure will.

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