On March 30th, BSM senior Mack Nevells won the award for best high school director in the midwest. The award was given by NATAS, or the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the same group that hosts the Emmy Awards. The regional award ceremony was held at a Mall of America ballroom, featuring over 240 entries from more than 40 different schools throughout the midwest. “I didn’t fully comprehend what I had won until people kept congratulating me the next day,” Nevells said.

Nevells has been quickly earning a reputation as a skilled filmmaker at BSM. His passion for cinematography first began when his middle school purchased laptops with new editing software. “I started out just filming myself doing random activities and adding lightning bolts and special effects to make it look cool,” Nevells said.

Nevells created his most recent video, “Chaos,” which he submitted to admissions, committees, and scholarships. The video follows the journey of a man lost in the woods, trying to get out, only to be hindered by his phone. He submitted the video to the colleges he was applying to and was advised to enter the video in the NATAS awards. “I didn’t really realize what I was entering my video to, so it was a huge honor to win,” Nevells said.

After a brief hiatus from filmmaking early in high school, Nevells enrolled in Film Studies followed by Advanced Film Studies. He created one of the most popular videos for the end of the year competition. “I learned how to plan videos and the different shots. A big part was learning how to coordinate the scenes that needed to be organized,” Nevells said.

Next fall Nevells will be attending Columbia College in Chicago to study Film Production and Cinematography. A nationally known liberal arts school, Columbia College provides a highly-ranked Cinema Arts program, which specifically works to encourage creativity while teaching the necessary skills. “Making films started out as a hobby and turned into something I truly love doing. I’m now hoping I can turn that passion into a career,” Nevells said.

Nevells hopes to learn the art of filmmaking and make the right connections at Columbia in order to land a job in the exclusive film industry. He wants to work on Hollywood Blockbusters and make a name for himself in the business. “I’d love to find a job in LA, New York, or Chicago. Hopefully I’ll be able to do something directly with film or television production,” Nevells said.