Modesto students win award for best animated high school film at New York City festival
For the second consecutive year, Downey High School’s 3D graphics and animation class won in the category of best animated high school film at the High School All-American Film Festival in New York City last month.
Downey’s film, “The Legend of Wild Wes,” won in the animations category over 65 others films worldwide. The directors in the class, Ian Wohlstadter and Fernando Veraztigue, also won a $45,000 scholarship in addition to a $3,000 laptop and multiple software subscriptions.
The film was produced by career and technical education instructor Heath Grant and over 24 students in class who worked on animation, lighting and texturing.
Students competed against others from California, Florida, Texas, Colorado and Montana.
Last year, the classes’ short film “Overcast” won against 80 other films in the animation category.
Four other Downey films — “Imaginarium,” “Horizon,” “Grizz” and “Keyframe” — were nominated at the film festival in previous years, but 2023 was the first time the school won.
The All-American High School Film Festival is an organization dedicated to uplifting high school filmmakers and media arts creators from around the world.
Each year, in New York City, itgives students an opportunity to learn from professionals in the industry, learn the newest trends and technology in media, explore higher education opportunities and receive scholarships and technology prizes.
The categories range from best overall to editing, screenplay, original scores and more. To learn more, go to www.hsfilmfest.com.
