Teens in the Director's Seat

Samsung's Fresh Films, a summer program based out of Chicago, lets teens call the shots as they compete for a chance to reign supreme in the film industry. By submitting a short essay on why they’d like to be filmmaker and a brief synopsis on a film idea, teens 14 to 19 are selected to compete against one another in hopes of becoming the next Steven Spielberg. Ten teens are selected from over 100 cities and with the help a handful of mentors, they have exactly one week to produce a short film from pre-production to post.

After working together in groups during the week, developing a script, selecting characters and going through equipment training, including camera operation, lights and sound they are ready to shoot. With "Film Crew" boldly printed across their back, the competition begins and teens start filming. They are then taught how to edit their masterpiece using Final Cut Pro, create music with Soundtrack Pro, and develop opening titles using Motion. A prize package all 100 teens receive just for participating.

Each film is then posted online and pitted against one another, two at a time for a total of five rounds, competing for the most votes over the course of six-days. The five winners of the duels receive a trip to L.A. for a premier party, a celebrity meet and greet and a Macbook Pro, in addition to the software package received earlier.

Fresh Films is a program created from Dreaming Tree Films, morphed from combining the idea of letting teens create their own programming.

The program has a MySpace profile and is featured on Apple.com.