Las Flores Middle School video production team wins big for documentaries

By Cindy Arora

When Las Flores Middle School students Anne Rowe and Luke Orologas signed up to take the audio-visual elective, they had no idea this class would lead to winning awards and walking the red carpet.

But that’s where the two young filmmakers ended up on May 21 when their documentary, “Dealing with Anxiety,” was selected by the Directing Change Program and Film Contest amongst more than 1,300 entries from schools throughout California.

“The experience has been amazing,” said Anne, 13, as she stood in front of the United Artists Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, where the awards ceremony was held. “I didn’t know this class would be like this when I signed up.”

Luke, 13, agreed with his audio-visual partner. Luke said he has been surprised by how challenging and gratifying the experience of creating a documentary has been.

“It was difficult, just getting all the parts together, scriptwriting, going out to location and then editing,” he said.

Video production teacher Roxanne Smathers has been teaching the art of audio-visuals to students for more than 20 years. Las Flores Middle School has made a name for itself as an award-winning school, receiving recognition year after year with several of its young filmmakers. This year has definitely been one for the books.

“We’ve earned a reputation for being hard workers,” Smathers said. “All of our students work really, really hard, and they know this is my expectation when you take the class. We are going to put together the best films possible because that’s just how we roll.”

Smathers’ background started on the other side of the camera as an actor, and she had fun learning what it takes to make a film. Once she became a teacher, she brought her passion for film and crafting stories to her students, and the result has been transformative for both her and her students.

“Now that I am teaching it, my goal is to always make sure each story has a beginning, middle, and an end,” she explained. “And I always tell students they must present in a positive light; I never want a student to be made fun of … I am thoughtful about what we are putting out there.”

Aside from documentaries and film festivals, Smathers is also in charge of the student newscast at Las Flores Middle School, a student-run news channel where the students are personally directing, writing, and working on special assignments they then share with the school.

This year, Smathers’ video production class has had a stellar year with multiple awards for several student films produced in her class, including:

• Directing Change: 2^ndplace Rabbit Hole, Sophia Li
• Directing Change: 3^rdplace Depression, Ryan Bernald
• Directing Change: Honorable Mention: Goals, Anya Nguyen (she won 1^stplace in state last year for Directing Change)
• Recognition by Chapman University for video on the Holocaust, Answering the Call of Memories
• California Student Media Festival recognized:
  • Luke Orologas for Healthy Mind, Healthy Society
  • Sophia Li for Timeline
  • Luke Orologas & Hailey Tse for Anzo Borrego
  • Anya Nguyen for CAR T Cell

The winning films were shown on PBS SoCal television on June 1. You can watch them here.

“This year has been a successful year for us,” Smathers said. “We’ve shared stories on Holocaust survivors, so their stories aren’t forgotten; we’ve created films on anxiety, mental health, and a film on CAR T-cells (a type of cancer-fighting immunotherapy). We even received a letter from a family on the CAR T-cells that thanks the student who produced the film on explaining something they were dealing with in their own family … I read the letter aloud and just had to cry, because I am so proud of our students.”

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