Four short films made entirely by Utah teenagers are set for their world premiere Thursday at the Grand Theatre in Salt Lake City, capping off a year of writing, shooting and editing by young filmmakers across the state. The lineup includes two fiction films, Dadio and Not How We Hoped, and two documentaries, Indomitable and Redline, all produced through Spy Hop's flagship PitchNic program.
The event marks the 24th annual edition of PitchNic World Premiere, according to ABC4 Utah, which reports doors open at the Grand Theatre at 5 p.m. with screenings beginning at 6 p.m. Tickets are available online for free, and the event is recommended for adults and children ages 13 and older. As described by Spy Hop, the night is billed as a one-night-only showcase of four original short films created by Utah's next generation of storytellers, featuring two documentary films and two fiction films, with a question-and-answer session following each screening.
Audience members will get a chance to ask the teen filmmakers questions after each film wraps, and guests can meet the young crews in the theatre lobby once the screenings conclude. The four films reportedly tackle a wide range of subject matter, with Spy Hop describing themes of identity, aging, racing, mental health, loneliness, friendship and grief running through this year's slate.
A Year-Long Program Behind the Red Carpet Night
PitchNic isn't a quick turnaround. Crews spend a full year creating two fiction and two nonfiction short films, per Spy Hop, with teams allotted film budgets and mentored through every stage of production, from pre-production through post-production. That year of work builds toward the same kind of culmination happening this week, when crews screen their finished films at a live, red-carpet premiere followed by a community Q&A, the nonprofit notes on its program page.
Spy Hop is the Salt Lake City nonprofit behind the event, and per ABC4, it was founded in 1999 with a mission of helping children and young adults learn filmmaking. The organization says it mentors more than 10,000 people ages 8 through 25 each year. PitchNic itself is described as Spy Hop's flagship program, giving teens from across the state hands-on filmmaking experience, and this year's premiere is not the program's first rodeo — ABC4 reports the inaugural PitchNic World Premiere dates back to 2002.
Track Record of Festival Recognition
The program has built a reputation beyond Salt Lake City. The Utah Review has reported that more than 95% of films produced through PitchNic have gone on to screen at, and win awards at, film festivals. Last year's edition offers a glimpse of that trajectory: according to The Utah Review, the PitchNic film Hija was later awarded an honorable mention at Italy's Reale Film Festival and picked up an award at South Africa's Power24 Film Festival.
That prior cycle, described by the outlet as the program's 23rd edition, also premiered four new shorts, with screenings beginning at 7 p.m. on Nov. 6. This year's four films — Dadio, Not How We Hoped, Indomitable and Redline — will get their own shot at the festival circuit once the Grand Theatre crowd has had the first look.
