Thousands of dollars spent on the best equipment, full days dedicated to filming and decades of experience at their disposal, yet some professional filmmakers fell short of achieving what last year’s Olio Road Production team was announced to have accomplished in September. Olio Road Productions’ film, “11:17”, was selected to compete in the Heartland International Film Festival, an Oscar-qualifying competition open to professional and student filmmakers.

“The Heartland International Film Festival is a prestigious festival,” senior Caroline Baer, an art department crew head in Olio Road Productions said, “Our movie is competing against those that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and our movie was made by a group of high school students solely based on our love for film making.”

While producing their nationally recognized film, Olio Road Productions had to find ways to work with their available resources, an issue that many high-budget films would not have to face.

“One major challenge was the scene decorating,” Baer said, “If there was a specific item that we needed but couldn’t get, it was a challenge to find a replacement object to compromise on since the vision had been set. We overcame this by making a list of everything we would need and making a sign-up sheet so we knew who had what props that we could use.”

Although having to hurdle obstacles not all professionals have to encounter, the producers were not spared of the common grievances of making a film.

“Some of the scenes were more complex and some of the scenes in the movie were longer,” junior Noah Millis, lead score writer for Olio Road Productions said, “both of which required more logistics and planning. Some of them required reshoots and a lot of them took a while to film because they had specific settings, so that kind of affected postproduction.”

Olio Road Productions worked through these issues, and the result was reflective of their purpose for making the film. Hoping to touch the hearts of their audience, they tried to convey a message that everyone could relate to.

“We were trying to share the hardships of grief and how everyone grieves differently,” Baer said, “This is meaningful to me because I believe grieving isn’t one linear motion, but one that fluctuates daily. I think our movie shows that there is no step-by-step process or list that needs to be checked off for your grief to be validated.”

Creating a film that takes an audience through a multifaceted topic is an impressive feat, yet not unheard of. However, doing so as a student organization is much less common, which has separated Olio Road Productions and the school as whole from the rest of the nation.

“No one else in the country is really [producing movies],” Jeremiah Follis, advisor and executive producer of Olio Road Productions said, “so it really sets us apart as a school and as a school district. [Competing in the International Heartland Film Festival] is not something high school students get to experience.”

Olio Road Productions brought recognition and a reputation of innovation to the school with their film, “11:17”. Not only has the movie served the school, but it has helped build the characters of the students involved in its production. Through all the obstacles, taking part in something challenging can give students the opportunity to grow and realize hidden potential

“[Getting into the International Heartland Film Festival] sort of showed me that we can do it,” Millis said, “When I came into this club, we were making these films and we entered one into Heartland that didn’t get in, so this achievement sort of showed me where we were. I’d say it really changed me because it challenged me.”