Congratulations are in order for Minarets High School and Heartland Charter School students after they took home the Best of Show awards at the Slick Rock Student Film Festival last Friday at the Visalia Fox Theatre.
Legacy won the High School Blockbuster award before also being announced as the High School Best of Show winner. The film was made by Ryan Abner, Lynden Johnson, Sam Franco, Jacob Spain, Nick Sultana, and Evan Bethel of Minarets High School in O’Neals.
Also winning both the Blockbuster and Best of Show in the middle school categories was, Before They Get You by Benjamin Embry of Heartland Charter School in Bakersfield.
This year, Slick Rock received over 330 films for 16 categories from middle and high school students across six Central Valley counties.
Below is a complete list of this year’s Slick Rock winners:
- Best of Show – Middle School: Before They Get You, Heartland Charter School (Benjamin Embry – Blockbuster)
- Best of Show – High School: Legacy, Minarets High School (Ryan Abner, Lynden Johnson, Sam Franco, Jacob Spain, Nick Sultana, Evan Bethel – Blockbuster)
- Animation: Stranded, El Diamante High School (Sebastian Calvanese Carter)
- Blockbuster – Middle School: Before They Get You, Heartland Charter School (Benjamin Embry)
- Blockbuster – High School: Legacy, Minarets High School (Ryan Abner, Lynden Johnson, Sam Franco, Jacob Spain, Nick Sultana, Evan Bethel)
- Documentary – Middle School: How Women’s Inventions Changed the World, Clark Intermediate School (Jourdin Alanis-Montano, Alyssa Santiago)
- Documentary – High School: The Curious Case Of Chopper the Alligator, El Diamante High School (Samuel Zurek, Thomas Martinez, Devin Lilley, Vincent Lozano Jr., Yuliana Montanez)
- Flavored Tobacco Vaping PSA: Was It All A Dream, West High School (Jasmine Garcia, Meriyah Oliver, Aston Aviles, Leila Pantoja, Tierra Jefferson, Luis Gurrola)
- General Advertisement – Middle School: Roll Me Some Advertisement, Reyburn Intermediate School (Daniella Cuenta, Ava Tucci-Cooper, Aileen Larios)
- General Advertisement – High School: Coast2Coast Pizza, Minarets High School (Ryan Abner, Sam Franco, Brandon Guy)
- General Public Service Announcement – Middle School: You Can Be The Change PSA, Fairmont K-8 School (Addisen McQuone, Brooke Barrett, Hadyn Taylor)
- General Public Service Announcement – High School: The Fear Of Missing Out PSA, Minarets High School (Ryan Abner, Lynden Johnson)
- Music Video – Cover: This Is What Falling in Love Feels Like, Coalinga High School (Jesse Lucero)
- Music Video – Original: Miss You, Redwood High School (William Youngquist, Nikko Gutierrez, Kylen Gray-Jacobson, Campbell Crites, Mandy Redden)
- News Broadcast: Ranger TV Mandy Redden Story, Redwood High School (Ambrose Bueno, Mandy Redden, Emerson Pressley, Alayla Ayala, Natalie McDonell, Campbell Crites)
- Opioid Fentanyl and Marijuana Prevention PSA: Choose Life, Redwood High School (William Youngquist, Nicholas Amstutz, Hannah Johnson)
- Sports Highlights: Return of the Rangers, Redwood High School (Clara Houser, Ashtyn Cripps, Kate Rosson, Preston Minnick, Nikko Gutierrez, Adeline Fierro)
- Suicide Prevention PSA: A Better Day, Monache High School (Gabrielle Sutherland, Briana Martinez)
Slick Rock is generously supported by the Tulare County Suicide Prevention Task Force, ABC30, EECU, and Tulare County HHSA Programs (Operation Prevention; Tobacco-Free Coalition; and the Alcohol & Other Drug Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services).
For more information on Slick Rock and to see the winning films, visit www.tcoe.org/SlickRock/Winners.