Peter Hansen oversees the Sonoma Valley High School Film Television Production Department. Ryan lely/Sonoma Valley Sun
Staff Report
A number of community organizations have supported the extracurricular activities of the Sonoma Valley High School’s video production and television department over the past several years. Among them is the Sonoma Valley High School Boosters Club, which continues to underwrite several film-related programs and yields myriad benefits, according to president Barbara Clementino.
“We’re able to offer some activities and learning experiences for kids who might not otherwise be interested. We’re appealing to kids who are fascinated by technology and like the media but might not be into drama, band or sports,” said Clementino. “We’re offering something to a whole separate group of kids and providing a way for them to be hooked into school and be excited about what they’re doing.”
Annually, the Boosters purchase passes for up to 25 kids to attend the Sonoma Valley Film Festival. The kind of immersion the students experience by rubbing elbows with working film professionals is invaluable, explained Peter Hansen, who oversees the high school’s video and television production departments.
“It’s like they’re rock stars,” said Hansen, who was able to add a class to his curriculum thanks to the Sonoma Valley Film Festival. “They’re 15-, 16- and 17-year-old kids wearing filmmaker badges and they’re sitting with filmmakers.”
Students attend films and panels as well as related festivities which often find them cavorting with studio heads and filmmakers and “doing lunch,” as they say in Hollywood.
“They recognize the importance of exposing kids to real world cultural events and in this case it’s film,” observed Hansen.
A few years ago, the filmmakers behind the popular festival film “My Date with Drew,” in which the filmmaker succeeds at having a date with actress Drew Barrymore, took several of Hansen’s students under their collective wings. The result was access to creative professionals that seldom occurs outside the industry.
“People love to fund equipment. They will write you a check and say ‘Here, buy a computer, buy a camera’ without recognizing all the extra time it takes. I’d say the Boosters Club is more progressive and really understands the vision,” said Hansen. “They have the top-down view of what it takes.”
Likewise, the CommonBond Foundation is leading an initiative to bring live broadcasts of the high school football games to SVTV27.
“CommonBond is excited to have another avenue for bridging cultures in Sonoma Valley by making high school athletics readily available to anyone with a TV set,” said foundation president Bill Hammett, adding that the broadcasts will complement current coverage of local government on SVTV27. “Sonoma Valley High School is a source of pride for the community and this helps with its visibility and creating greater cohesiveness in the community.”
Hansen enlisted several student interns to participate with SVTV27 in this regard, as well as work with FilmArt3, the recently launched cinema division of Three House MultiMedia.
“I’m working better, I feel energized and I’m feeling honored by the contributions,” said Hansen, whose Film Club has collectively received $10,000 this year.
