By Elizabeth Kneisley
Life Editor
Andrew Freeman, a sophomore at Mira Costa, has taken his first steps to stardom with the success of his feature film “Disorganized Fun”.
Andrew Freeman, along with three other current Costa students participated in the creation of a feature film length documentation of teenage skateboarding. Entitled “Disorganized Fun,” the film went through two year long filming and editing process. Coming to a polished end in late February, Freeman sought out a location for a premiere, which took place on March 9.
“We would just film at first,” Freeman said. “Soon we saw that we there was a decent amount of footage, so we thought we should start making a film.”
Shot in a large sum of clips, the filming process was helmed by Freeman. With a total of ten skaters participating, the film focuses on the urban element of skateboarding. Grinding ledges and jumping gaps in the hills of Hollywood, the streets of downtown Los Angeles and in the quiet neighborhoods of the Southbay, Freeman and his team attempted to bring back the gritty aspect of skate culture.
“It seemed as if they put some effort into locating the filming spots,” freshman Jeremy Trimble said. “They looked well hidden and fun to skate on.”
After the completion of a difficult months of editing and final touched, the team had a new goal to achieve, setting a premier date. Finding a location is a difficult process as a first time film maker, however, Freeman found refuge in a man named Mark Cole. Cole became affiliated with “Disorganized Fun” through explaining and promoting their project to workers at local surf shop, Spyder Surf. Acting as the signing guardian at the Hermosa Beach Playhouse and becoming a partner to the team, Cole became crucial to the fruition of the film’s debut.
“‘I have known Mark for a long time,” Freeman said, “Ever since I’ve been going to Spyder and he was really interested in the film and wanted to help me put the premiere together. He made things way easier for me, which was nice, since it was my first experience with the industry,”
Senior Wyatt Boyd is a featured skater in the film, gracing the silver screen with a hilarious blooper reel and skating with impeccable technical skills. Also performing is junior Jared Cleland. Cleland has been filming with Freeman and Boyd since the beginning of “Disorganized Fun”. Mason Silva, a freshman and sure-to-be star of the skateboarding world graced the screen of the Hermosa Beach playhouse as well. Silva is one of the youngest skaters Freeman shoots. He has also been involved with “Disorganized Fun” since the beginning.
“They have been working so hard,”Lauren Freeman, Mira Costa alumni said.
“Two years in the making and the movie is finally happening. It is exciting to watch him actually finish something.”
The premiere was weeks away when Freeman put the last touches on the film. Spending hours researching effects and browsing song selections became Freeman’s reality in the last days.
“I wasn’t looking for anything specific. We were just going out and doing what we would always do, but sometimes there was style or the cleanliness of a trick that really grabbed my attention, so I would use those clips,” Freeman said.
Using what is left of the small profit from the premiere, the crew is in the midst of making a DVD version of the film that will be going up for sale in a few weeks on the website “www.BigCartel.com”. They will be selling merchandise such as shirts and stickers.
As for the future of “Disorganized Fun”, Freeman and his band of skaters hope to get enough footage to elaborate further on what they love so much about skateboarding.
“It was a fun experience being a first time independent film maker, it was a long and hard process but rewarding too,” Freeman said.
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