10th Annual Real to Reel Global Youth Film Festival Inspires Filmmakers and Announces Winners

Seasoned industry professionals shared personal stories and groundbreaking information with emerging young filmmakers during two panel discussions.

LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, December 31, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The 10th Annual Real to Reel Global Youth Film Festival presented by Better Youth Inc., took place at the Los Angeles Film School and was well supported by city officials, local celebrities, and industry professionals.

The festival opened with support from local celebrities walking the red carpet, which included Jasmine Sanders (Co-Host of The DL Hughley Show), Merrick McCartha (CW’s All American), Ben Cain (Hulu’s Cruel Summer), Angie Ayala (The Girl In The Pool), Queen Mother Freda Sideroff (Public Figure), Melvin Jackson Jr. (HBO’s The Wire; BET’s The New Edition Story), Chef Sean (Award-Winning Hip Hop Artist), Armando Smith (Filmmaker), Miles Ray-Burks (Performing Artist), Kristian Lund Jakobsen (Filmmaker), Joshua Elizondo (Actor/Producer), and Latrice Marie (RTRG Film Festival Lead Producer), and many others.

During the festival, emerging young filmmakers had the opportunity to hear personal stories and groundbreaking information from seasoned industry professionals during two panel discussions. Panelists included festival founder and screenwriter Syd Stewart (Hulu’s Johnson; AllBlk’s G.R.I.T.S), director Sean McNamara (Disney’s That’s So Raven), Emmy and NAACP Image Award-winning producer P. Frank Williams (Hulu’s Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told; A&E's Who Killed Tupac?), actor Merrick McCartha (CW’s All American), author Bryan Michael Stoller (Filmmaking for Dummies), Marcus Marshall (President of NAMIC), Jan Lucanus (CEO of ReelwUrld), British actress Isabella Blake Thomas, actor Zay Domo, actress Montana Jacobowitz, actor/filmmaker Jax Malcolm, and independent filmmaker Ayana Hawk. The panels were moderated by festival co-founder Johna Rivers and youth author Tarrence Bryant Jr. In addition, award-winning producer Kristina Sullivan lead an exclusive screenwriting workshop from her book “Script To Screen 101” discussing how to turn an idea into a script, then how to turn a script into a film or series.

The festival showcased several films, including “Flesh and Blood", "re:connection", "The Jazz Pianist", "Going Green", "Unconditional", "Afterworld", "Bare Luxuries", "Room", "How to make a college?", "Way To Go", "CIN-E-RAMA", "Colored Color", "MAX", "Missing with Privilege", "Intertwined", "This Isn’t The End", "Ablaze", "Token Two: The White Version", "Guiding Light", "A Better Life", and "Bird Drone".

The winning films included:
• Best Drama – “Unconditional” directed by Grant Housley
• Best Action – “Afterworld” directed by Oscar Bermudez
• Best Documentary – “Going Green” directed by Sanchali Pothuru
• Best Animation – “re:connection” directed by Directed by Kristina Tran
• Best Horror Movie - "Flesh and Blood" directed by Paul Vo Le
• Best Storyline - "The Jazz Pianist" directed by Shahan Rao.

The event concluded with an awards ceremony recognizing the festival founders, panelists, staff, and sponsors. Awards were presented by representatives from the office of Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez (District 13), and Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Lindsey Horvath. The festival’s founders were honored for their commitment to providing arts programs and services for foster and system-impacted youth.

Better Youth Inc. has earn and learn pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship training programs. Applications are open. For more information visit https://www.betteryouth.org/better-youth-apprenticeship.

To support Better Youth Inc. in their mission to uplift foster and system-impacted youth, donations can be made at www.betteryouth.tv/DONATE.

Social Media Platforms:

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Hashtags: #betteryouth #RTRG24 #realtoreelglobal #fosteryouth
Website: www.betteryouth.org

ABOUT BETTER YOUTH INC.
Better Youth is a social impact non-profit with a mission is to build creative confidence, close resource gaps and prepare foster and system impacted youth for sustained success in the creative economy. Better Youth's no-cost creative media programs provide technical skills training, mentorship, professional skills development and paid work experience to bridge the digital and diversity divide. Their program progression includes state and federally registered pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship career pathways in animation, interactive gaming, filmmaking and project management. Better Youth's vision is to activate our youth as the next-gen powerhouses of the creative economy. Founded by CEO Syd Stewart who has extensive nonprofit experience, Better Youth started as a music and creative writing organization. In the heart of New York City, Stewart led with the goal to ease children from their daily adversities. She worked with children from The Ronald McDonald House battling cancer and children facing poverty in the housing projects of Harlem. In 2010, Stewart set her sights on the west coast in Los Angeles. To learn more or donate to the organization visit www.betteryouth.org.

ABOUT REAL TO REEL GLOBAL YOUTH FILM FESTIVAL
Real to Reel is an extraordinary film festival in Los Angeles showcasing the incredible talents of young filmmakers from diverse backgrounds. Presented by Better Youth, our festival is a vibrant celebration of creativity and a platform for youth empowerment through showing their talents on the big screen. Aiming to bring together audiences and emerging artists, our film festival celebrates captivating stories and the artistry of the next generation of filmmakers. We receive hundreds of submissions each year and showcase the best and most captivating films created by our diverse young filmmakers. To learn more visit https://www.betteryouth.org/real-to-reel-global.

Deborah A Griffin
Strictly Industry
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