Film students and moviemakers alike were treated to an inside look of the film industry as a Houston-native filmmaker came to campus yesterday.
The Film Society of Sam Houston State University is the newest student organization for future filmmakers. Although it is in its first semester of existence, junior mass communication major and TFS president Khoi Ngyuen has high hopes for the organization.
“The main goal of the film society is to get to know each other and allow the society to create a friendly environment that creates strong networking,” Ngyuen said. “I want to help future filmmakers at SHSU leave the school with an awesome portfolio.”
Yesterday at the weekly TFS meeting, deputy director for the Houston Film Commission Alfred Cervantes enlightened students about a more in depth part of film production.
Cervantes is an experienced mind when it comes to filmmaking and hoped that, during his presentation, students got an overview of the Houston Film Commission, what is has to offer and how film production works in the state of Texas.
During his presentation he went over the essentials to making it in the film industry and the amount of effort that goes on behind the scenes.
He went into further detail about the different career fields within the film industry in Texas, such as commercial, industrial, independent films and music videos. Cervantes said all career fields in film creates employment and makes the film industry not only for entertainment but for economic benefit as well.
Cervantes is also a huge supporter of student films, a message he shared while at SHSU.
“I want to get film writers as close to their vision as possible,” Cervantes said. “[SHSU film program alumni] have been very active and a great asset to the film industry.”
Cervantes also noted that any filmmaker who wants to be successful should make as many films as they can, and “start yesterday.”
Aspiring filmmaker and freshman mass communication major Veronica Sieckman walked away from the presentation with a new mentality on the film industry.
“It’ll take a lot of responsibility and we will have a lot of opportunity to make ourselves known, I’m excited,” Sieckman said.
The SHSU film society plans to bring in several more guest speakers throughout the year, including filmmakers from who are alumni. Additional speakers may come from as far away as Iran.
For more information on The Film Society, contact the group at tfs_shsu@gmail.com.
Updated Oct 2. 4:16pm – The original post incorrectly identified Khoi Ngyuen as a sophomore.