On Sunday, December the 18th, SJSU’s Film Production Society hosted their biannual FPS Fest at the Camera 3 Theater downtown. Occurring at the end of every semester, FPS Fest collects the finest student-made films produced over the past semester from students across all majors, primarily the TRFT department as well as some films from the Animation and Illustration major and films produced by FPS alumni.

This semester brought the best films from classes such as Babak Sarrafan’s RTVF-130 and Laura Long & Kathie Kratochvil’s TA-100W as well as films produced by the club itself and independent student productions. This semester’s festival also premiered the long-awaited Summer 2014 Spartan Studios’ film Space Nuns by Akos Megyes, after 2 ½ years in production.

The officers assemble a small panel of judges to assign scores and determine award winners assembled from alumni and faculty members. This festival the panel was composed of SJSU Theater Arts professor Laura Long, RTVF Alumnus Liam Goulding, and RTVF Alumus Oscar Arguello who also was a founding member of the club ten years ago.

FPS is led by seniors Ashley Valenzuela (President), Riley Leggin (Vice President), and Jacob Ohlhausen and Officers Rikuto Sekiguchi, Samantha Panganiban, Aaron Griego, Francisco Allan Alvarez, and Kyle McDonald. The club encourages and fosters a student community of filmmakers to make films and cultivate various on-set technical skills, augmenting what is being taught in the classroom by offering enthusiastic students more opportunities to exercise their knowledge.

At this festival, the officer’s introduced a new award to recognize individuals outside of the club who have helped and supported the club achieve their goals. The inaugural award was presented to RTVF Director of Theater & Film Production and FPS faculty advisor Barnaby Dallas for his continued, tireless efforts to assist the club in their filmmaking endeavors.

Award Winners:

Best Picture – Eye Love You – Nikiel Suchit

Audience Choice – Play-Time – David Bui

Best Director – Ambient – Jonathan Olivo

Best Cinematography – Ambient – JD Meyer

Best Actress – Roulette – Amanda Chiapari

Best Actor – Play-Time – Spencer Greene

Best Script – Eye Love You – Nikiel Suchit

Best Editing – Ambient – Jonathan Olivo

Best Art – Four/Four Downpour – Sami Healy

Best Sound – Eye Love You – Nikiel Suchit

Officers Appreciation – Barnaby Dallas