GCDS Student Hopes To Inspire The Community Through Film

GREENWICH, CT — A Greenwich Country Day School student is hoping her love for filmmaking can inspire a community.

As part of her junior thesis project, Ellery Futch, 16, is organizing a film festival for local teens to showcase their talents: Fairfield County Flix Fest.

Local teen filmmakers are encouraged to submit their videos to FFF by March 6. At 6 p.m. on May 6 at the GCDS Performing Arts Center, the videos will be viewed and judged by industry professionals and will be considered to win a monetary prize. Categories include: Best High School Short Film, Documentary, Animation, and Public Service Announcement.

David Levien, who is one of the guest judges, will also be a guest speaker. Levien is a screenwriter, director, producer, and novelist. He is co-creator, executive producer, and showrunner of Showtime's Billions.

Other noteworthy credits include "Ocean's Thirteen", "Rounders", "Solitary Man", "The Illusionist", "Runaway Jury", "Tilt", and an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary titled "This Is What They Want".

Other judges are GCDS alum and those associated with film:

Screenwriter Peter Kalmbach (GCDS Class of ’95), writer and producer John Adler (GCDS Class of ’91), Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker Laura Deney (GCDS Class of ‘88), writer, director and acting coach Jay Scully, and screenwriter and founder of the Greenwich International Film Festival Wendy Stapleton (GCDS Class of ’92).

For more details on FFF, submission rules and the viewing event on May 6, click here.

Last year, Futch undertook an independent film study with her thesis advisor and GCDS arts teacher, Dr. Louise Carrie Wales.

In the spring of 2021, Futch started looking for local film festivals where she could submit her work, but she found out there aren't very many local options. At the same time, she began to think about her upcoming junior thesis project.

"I was just thinking about how there's this need for a film festival that was able to incorporate all different schools. And also, COVID was kind of happening for a while, so there was this disconnect in the community. I felt like It was kind of the right place, right time," Futch said.

Futch said she has three goals for her film festival:

"The first goal was to create a community of filmmakers in the county. My second goal was kind of to inspire that community of filmmakers and also inspire community members, and my third goal is to highlight diverse voices and ideas," she said.

Futch first fell in love with film when she participated in a pre-college filmmaking program at Purchase College several years ago.

"I've always loved art, and I just never explored this medium. It came relaly natural to me and it felt like it combined all of these different mediums into one," Futch said. " I enjoy the ability to show emotion to my audience and being able to tell stories, whether that be my own story or other people's stories. I also love to unite people."

Futch is also a member of the varsity cross country team, and the founder and editor of Streak, the school's literary magazine. She started and co-hosts a podcast called The Tiger Project with fellow student, Evan Barry. Futch also takes part in a weekly science experiment activity with the Boys and Girls Club.

Wales said there are 120 students in the junior class — the first full GCDS high school class in history.

"The projects are as varied as the individuals in that group," Wales said.

Wales is excited to see FFF come together, and noted that it's impressive to see Futch in action.

"Ellery is a meticulous and organized young woman. I've joked with her often that she should take over my life, because I think it would run much more smoothly," Wales said. "She's a tremendous young woman. I knew that from the first moment we spoke."

Next school year, GCDS will offer an "intro to film" class for juniors and seniors. Both Futch and Wales said they hope a local film festival can continue even after Futch has graduated.

"I hope we can develop a group of students who love film and love to see others succeed and will carry this torch forward," Wales said.