Cultural Filmmaking Workshops

Narrative & Documentary

Major funding has come from the

Arts in Society grant and the Colorado Film Commission -

Filmmakers Bruce Borowsky, Joey Lopez, and Mike Scalisi have been facilitating summer filmmaking workshops for a number of years, teaching Indigenous and underserved high school students and young adults professional video production, with the “lab” part of the class actually making a short documentary or narrative film.

These workshops provide a unique opportunity for participants to learn important skills that might lead to a career in the film industry.

Job training and Career development

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The films our team have facilitated in these exciting workshops have screened at numerous film festivals around the country, as well as winning awards, and are a testament to the hard work the students put in - the training we provide allows the participants to learn practical skills, and then practice those skills “on-the-job” throughout the workshop. Workshops have been held for 5-days, 7-days, and 10-days, and are flexible enough to be able to fit into most organization’s schedules.

Students learn about the various roles in making a film, and then actually do those roles, including director, cameraperson, lighting person, sound person, etc. Over the years it's been very exciting to witness when it "clicks" for some students, and they start to pursue a possible career in the film industry. Films are being shot all over the country, and especially in the southwest there are studios always looking to fill crew positions. Additionally, the skills learned in these workshops enable students to work on their own films, and tell their own stories, letting them express themselves using the medium of film and video, even if they're just using their cell phone!

Jumpstarting future filmmakers

Workshops are designed for participants with absolutely no prior video experience, and take students through all aspects of pre-production (concept development, scriptwriting, and logistics), production (filming), and post-production (editing). The content of a workshop is individually designed for each organization, and customized to the participant’s needs, with each student receiving a Certificate acknowledging their achievement.

Certificates for participants and facilitators_UMU 2024_49.jpg

Curriculum

Last day of filming "The Basket Lady", 2024

Our training encompasses all aspects of filmmaking - the skills we teach are relevant not only to creating the immediate class project, but our hope is

that some of the students might be excited and inspired to use their new

skills to find work in the film industry.

Some of the topics covered in the class include:

- Video camera operation

- Lighting techniques

- Recording quality audio

- Interviewing techniques

- Directing talent

- Scriptwriting

- Location scouting

- Collaborating as a team

- Editing (Optional)

Filming "The Basket Lady", 2024

Co-Facilitator: Bruce Borowsky is an award-winning filmmaker, specializing in documentaries and corporate videos. His many career accomplishments include serving as Chief Photographer for the City of Miami Beach; working as the full-time assistant for the renowned adventure photographer Galen Rowell; producing the Outdoor Channel’s nationally televised "The Climbing Show" for 5 years; and now producing corporate videos and documentaries for his company, Pixel Mill Studios in Boulder, Colorado; filming in diverse locations such as Cuba, Myanmar, Egypt, China, Turkey, Japan, and Australia.

Co-Facilitator: Joey Lopez has worked in the film industry for the last 7 years. He obtained his degree in Directing/Producing from the Colorado Film School in Denver Colorado. He has made his career by primarily working as a 1st Assistant Director, but also owned a commercial production company. Working on high level features, national commercial spots, and short form film productions has allowed him to acquire experience in several styles of filmmaking. He has worked for the last 6 years with the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, facilitating and teaching a film workshop program every summer. The Ute Tribe holds a special place in his heart, and being Cochiti Pueblo, himself, allows him to understand the importance of Indigenous voices in media..

Post Production: Michael Scalisi is an award-winning video editor of everything from corporate videos to broadcast television to shorts and feature-length films. Mike uses Adobe Premiere, as well as Adobe After Effects, for professional quality motion graphics and special effects. Moving to directing has been a natural extension of the storytelling skills developed in editing, conceptualizing a strong vision for the style and content of a video and being able to translate that from production to post. Mike was the editor on the feature documentary “The Cove”, which won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Documentary and the Sundance Audience Choice Award, as well as over 40 other awards at film festivals around the world..

Team