By Kelcie Eminian and Kasey Walsh
Lights, camera, action. A common, obvious reference to film and the world of production. It’s simplistic, easy, and direct. There is, however, nothing quite so simple about true film producing. Undertaken typically by enormous teams with millions on millions of dollars in budget, the industry has accomplished truly incredible things to do what every medium strives to; tell stories, and tell them well. When you take away the high tech, the massive crews, and generous funding, you’re left with a passionate few with stories to tell. You are left with a crew much like that of Bradley University’s Hilltop Films.
Hilltop Films is Bradley’s student run short film club. Founded in 2017 as BU Productions, the organization consisted of four television arts students looking for something they couldn’t find in other clubs on campus.
Kayla Hallowell, current senior TV arts major and co-founder of BU Productions, remembers a time when the film industry wasn’t a part of Bradley’s communications program emphasis.
“My good friend Rachel Borland… was like ‘we’re both interested in film, and Bradley doesn’t really focus on film, we focus on radio and broadcasting, so let’s make a club and see what happens,’” Hallowell recalls. “We did a first semester trial and it really worked, so we’re like alright, let’s make this club official!”
With a script written for a class, designed for radio production, they set out and filmed Project 7. The final, edited product had somewhat random, interesting shots in an abandoned hotel, their small crew following very loose guidelines, but mostly having fun and filming it.
The club grew from there with the mission of writing, filming, and producing short films, all while learning and educating each other on the best ways to do that. TV arts professor Dr. Anji Phillips became the official faculty advisor. The founders’ recruitment lead to a larger club, and a larger club led to more opportunities to organize and create.
BU Productions took on two larger scale productions beyond Project 7. A TV Arts student’s assignment, Decision Making, gave a look into the back-and-forth thought processes of an endlessly conflicted college student. A club executive’s script Ryogo, took place in a future where Artificial Intelligence (AI) robots were so advanced they began to learn self-awareness and human emotion.
In the fall semester of 2018, BU Productions underwent a rebranding stage and became what is now Hilltop Films. With a new name came a more structured order, and the bones of a real movie studio were brought to the club. Now there were defined segments of a writing team, pre-production, production, and post-production with goals and milestones to accomplish.
Freshman television arts major and Hilltop Films production manager Annie Bettag has seen many sides of this new organization, joining the executive board in her second semester on campus.
“I heard about a short film club on campus before I came here, so at the activities fair I immediately wanted to hit the ground running,” Bettag said. “It’s actually not much of different experience being on exec, because I’m doing the same observing, maybe taking more hands on direction, with a fancier title!”
The club, completely coordinated by a team of students of varying major backgrounds, now operates in the manor of a professional studio. Hilltop Films has now written and produced a short film, Group Project, based on every terrible group assignment/presentation we’ve been through. The project currently in the (post)production stage, Undergrad, follows more seriously the experiences of two college students and their struggle to make it through to graduation and beyond.
This semester’s executive producer, sophomore animation major Riley Egan, has been excited for the expansion of the club for the sake of inclusivity and reach into the community.
“I always wanted to lead people and bring a club to light (in the community) and kind of expand a club that was, at one point, very designed specifically for television arts majors to any major that’s interested in the filmmaking process in general,” Egan said.
Beyond the club’s produced film projects, Hilltop Films does work with the Peoria nonprofit Youth Music Illinois, filming their performances and piecing together highlights for promotional tools. The club originally made the connection through Bradley communication professor Dr. Elena Gabor, and work with the organization has, and will hopefully continue with other outside community projects into the upcoming semester.
Hilltop Films is wrapping up their academic year with a premiere event for all previous productions including Project 7, Decision Making, Ryogo, and Group Project with a teaser trailor for this semester’s Undergrad. The event is free and open to the public on Monday April 29 at 7 p.m. in the Student Center Executive Suite.