Righetti High School film students earned two of the three top awards at the recent 2024 Central Coast Film Society Student Showcase.
Rafael Atilano-Baustista (12th grade) won Best Screenplay for “Indifference;” Samuel Cornejo (11th grade), Nathan Freeland (11th grade), Adan Garcia (12th grade), Andres Cornejo (12th grade) and Ethan Guy (11th grade) won Best Technical Achievement for “Five Nights at Righetti 2.”
Schools from Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties were eligible to submit films to the festival.
“I’m so proud of my students. They have worked very hard this year,” said media arts teacher Jacob Gustafson. “We had a record number of films accepted into this festival, and it’s due to the hard work and dedication my students have. I’m so lucky to have such creative, engaged, and fun students.”
Righetti film-makers commented about their experiences at the film festival.
“Thank you to the Central Coast Film Society for this incredible honor,” Freeland said. “It’s a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team and especially Sam, our group’s director, and Mr. G, our teacher, for enabling our success and pushing us further.’’
“Winning an award at the Central Coast Film Society is something that I am honored to accept, the event was wonderful I met a lot of creative people,” said Cornejo. “I want to thank God for this opportunity and my family for being there for me.
“I also want to thank my crew cause if it weren’t for them than I wouldn’t have been able to win this award, and I want to thank my teacher Mr. G for teaching me what I know. I hope to be included in their next events and I will keep continuing my passion which is making movies.’’
“I’m thankful to the CCFS for this opportunity, and for selecting my screenplay into the competition,” Atilano-Bautista said. “Having my screenplay selected and awarded is a big win for me, and it has boosted my confidence in my film-making skills, particularly in my screenwriting skills.
“I’m going to continue screenwriting and I plan to use this award to show what I’m capable of doing.’’