WestFlix is a celebration of the best short films produced by high school students throughout California. The films are showcased in an evening screening at the ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood and followed by a day of workshops with industry professionals at Harvard-Westlake School, the sponsor of WestFlix.
Now in its 15th year, WestFlix (formerly Harvard-Westlake Film Festival) has come a long way since its start. Founded in 2004 by Harvard-Westlake alumna Elizabeth Yale ’04, the first festival showcased the films in Harvard-Westlake’s Rugby Theater with alum Jake Gyllenhaal as its speaker. In 2008 the venue changed to ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood to accommodate the festival’s expanding audience and the following year moved into the ArcLight’s 800-seat Cinerama Dome. The festival continues to expand each year under new student leadership and faculty advisors Cheri Gaulke, Kevin O’Malley and Ted Walch.
WestFlix serves as a premium showcase for high school filmmakers throughout California. Films are selected by a committee of students, teachers and industry professionals who view the entries and choose the finalists. A judging panel of industry professionals chooses winners in many different categories. Previous judges include Peter Gallagher, Kevin Costner and Alfre Woodard.
Each year, the festival evening features a keynote speaker who is chosen to talk about their career and success in the film industry. Throughout the years, we have had the privilege of hosting, among others, Tom Hanks, Jamie Lee Curtis ’76, Paul Thomas Anderson, Kathryn Bigelow, Guillermo del Toro, Jason Reitman ’95, Aaron Sorkin, Michael Sheen and Kate Beckinsale.
The 2011 festival began a new tradition – The Day After. On Saturday, following the annual screening, Harvard-Westlake plays host to all of the festival filmmakers and their crews for a day of conversation with each other and workshops with film professionals.
To reserve tickets for the WestFlix festival screening or The Day After, visit hw.com/WestFlix.
Our industry professional judges help us determine various awards in categories such as directing, cinematography, editing, etc. These honors are announced at the festival. In addition we sometimes have scholarship awards to various film-making programs. All selected filmmakers receive trophies the night of the festival.
