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By KEVIN GRAHAMYoung moviemakers start filming a 10-minute feature today in New Tampa.
TAMPA - Silver laptops, black cell phones and hotel coffee littered the tables this week inside the Brandon Hilton Garden Inn.
"What's your neck size? Do you happen to know your neck size?" a young man, using an authoritative voice, questioned someone on the phone.
Dotting the walls were multicolored Post-It Notes with words like "detective," "bedroom," "interrogation," and "priest."
"This is our war room," said Elizabeth Enck, project director for Dreaming Tree Films.
The troops: 10 aspiring filmmakers between the ages of 14 and 19 from across Florida. Today, they head to New Tampa to shoot what they hope will become an award-winning 10-minute film.
It's part of the Samsung Fresh Films project. Creators of the program say it's the only national, teen filmmaking experience like it.
This summer, groups of 10 teens are making stops in 10 cities, where each team will spend a week producing, shooting and editing a film. The films will be released on the Internet, where viewers will vote on their favorite. The winners receive a trip to Los Angeles for a red-carpet premiere party and a day with a Hollywood filmmaker.
"Think the Universal Studios back lot tour, but deeper," said Caitlyn McBride, marketing manager for the company that produces Fresh Films.
The program began in 2004 with a handful of cities. It grew last year to 10 locations across the country. Cities will rotate on the list each year, with Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City remaining constant, McBride said.
Other cities where filming will take place this ummer include Denver, Atlanta, Indianapolis, San Francisco, Boston and Austin. Other locations are scheduled to shoot through mid July.
"It's more than I expected," said Marc Goldberg, 15, a junior at Gaither High School. "How many people get to say they got to make a movie when they were 15?"
Heidi Garcia, 17, a senior at Blake High School, said the biggest challenge she faced this week was persuading business owners to let the teens film on their property.
"We've gotten plenty of rejection," she said.
Filming will take place in a five-mile radius of New Tampa. The idea for the film came from a combination of script ideas the teens submitted when applying for the program. Of more than 6,000 applicants this year, 100 participants were chosen.
The Tampa team's plot involves a murder mystery. Three high school friends play a series of senior pranks until one of them turns deadly, killing one of the girls. Someone captures the death on a Samsung camera phone, evidence - and not-so-subtle product placement - a detective uses to solve the case.
"This program has really placed the power in their hands," said Keith Johnson, 20, a member of the winning New York team last year who returned this summer as an instructor.
As cinematographer for the Tampa team, Johnson also trained the teens on techniques for using the sound equipment.
"Slow, graceful movements," he said, demonstrating with a boom mike. "It's difficult. It's going to be hard. You've just got to get a feel for it."
Mike Rubino, 19, a recent graduate of Central High School in Brooksville, paid close attention. With trepidation, Rubino picked up the mike and began to imitate Johnson.
"I just don't want to break anything," he said.
Kevin Graham can be reached at 813 226-3433 or kgraham@sptimes.com.