Student's Screenplay to Appear on the Big Screen

One Shorewood High School senior's story of a traveling photographer will be made into a film this summer, after winning a local film contest for best screenplay.

Milwaukee Film announced Celia Carroll as the winner of its 2011 Collaborative Cinema Screenplay Contest for her story of a traveling photographer called “The Magical Camera."

“I'm actually still in shock that I won," Carroll said about the news. "When I found out, I squealed, did a dance, and then dissolved into a fit of giggles. In that order.”

Carroll was chosen after a seven-month-long process, involving a field of over 100 area students and three professional development workshops.

“The Magical Camera” is the story of a photographer who travels from town to town. Through his camera, he controls people and is able to take their most valuable possessions. In one town, he acquires a child and the story takes off from that point.

Carroll's script will be produced into a short film this July by Milwaukee Film and screened during the 2011 Milwaukee Film Festival, Sept. 22 through Oct. 2. The mixed crew of industry professionals, college students and high school interns will be overseen by director and Milwaukee native Christian Otjen (“Reeseville” from the 2003 Milwaukee International Film Festival and “Lady in the Box”), and producers Mark Metcalf (Milwaukee Film Collaborative Cinema Director) and Susan Kerns (Milwaukee Film Education Director). Milwaukee-based producer, writer and former Miramax Films executive Jeff Kurz, along with Otjen, will continue mentoring Carroll through the pre-production writing process.

“I am really excited and can’t wait to see my work at the Oriental Theater,” shared a very happy Carroll. “I am also nervous.”

Carroll first learned of the competition when Mark Metcalf, actor and Milwaukee Film’s Collaborative Cinema Director, spoke at Shorewood High School’s lunchtime art café last fall. The art department regularly invites local artists to share their experiences with students during lunchtime art cafés.

“Julie Grisar (art department chair) provided a lot of moral support throughout the process,” Carroll said.

She has taken a number of writing classes at Shorewood High School and also thanked her teachers.

“This is going to be a incredible summer,” Carroll said.

After graduation, she is planning to travel with a student group to Guatemala to volunteer at an orphanage followed by a student wilderness trip before arriving back in town to participate in the filming of her movie. This fall, she will be attending the University of Wisconsin in Madison.