Alexis Butler

Butler’s winning project, “Parallel Lines: Young Filmmakers Working with Industry Professionals”, is a collaboration between the film and dance departments at Culver City High School. Students exchange their ideas and are then divided into crews to collaborate on choreography and dances to be filmed with an eye on color, rhythm and movement. The finished films will be showcased at the annual Frost Film Festival at the school, the Java Gala in the Kirk Douglas Theatre as well as at the annual screening at Sony Pictures Studios. With the ING grant funds, students will also get to attend Cirque du Soleil’s fall 2011 performance of “IRIS: A Journey Through the World of Cinema” at the Kodak Theatre, allowing them to understand the history of cinematography. The collaboration between the students will help them develop technical and vocational expertise with choreography, costuming, cameras, working in crews on film sets and using Final Cut Studio editing software as they create their works of art. They will also learn from a professional cinematographer about the basics of shooting techniques, accessories, and workflow solutions with digital single lens reflex cameras. A peer review by a student jury will determine which films are considered for film festivals. Butler lives in Lomita.