Class was in session yesterday afternoon as 130 high school students packed into the Sundance House for a lively discussion about the ups and downs and ins and outs of filmmaking. The panel is part of the Festival’s Students at the Festival High School program, which every year invites groups from 10 different high schools from across the country and students from 10 colleges and universities to come to Park City and join the festivities.

Festival Director Geoffrey Gilmore put his teacher’s hat on for the occasion, along with a diverse group of panelists associated with Festival films this year – from filmmakers to DPs to composers. Topics discussed included the production process, location scouting, the definition of the indie film, and some sobering industry statistics – did you know that on average 1 in 10 films that get produced get distributed, and 1 out of 8 of those films make any money?

One girl in the audience asked the panel members if they were able to support themselves by filmmaking. “I always say that I do other things to support my documentary habit,” filmmaker Susan Koch replied. “I work on other videos and television programs.”

“Most people in this business do it not because it’s going to make them wealthy, or even necessarily to make a living,” Gilmore added. “They do it because they’re driven to tell stories.”

The students weren’t discouraged, however. Far from it: Monica Olsson, part of a Seattle-based non-profit youth media literacy group called Reel Girls, commented after the panel, “I learned that making films and enjoying it and having it be a defining factor in your life is completely possible. It’s not an impossible dream.”

This was her second year visiting the Festival. “I had the pleasure of coming here for the first time last year and I came back because I need to surround myself with the art that I’m attracted to,” she said. “I need to ask questions and learn from fellow youth filmmakers as well as my adult mentors. I need to see what’s out there and hear what’s being said. And more importantly, what’s not being said because the younger generation and the youth filmmakers now have a really unique opportunity to fill a gap, in terms of language and culture and ideas.”