Teen View Returns To Nantucket Film Festival Under New Leadership

Teen View, the Nantucket Film Festival’s youth education program, returns this summer with new leadership and a format centred on screenwriting.

Historically, Teen View, operated by Nantucket Community Television, offered students the chance to create original films from scratch that would then be screened at the Nantucket Film Festival (NFF). This year, screenwriter Bill Gullo has taken over the program, which will now focus on helping students develop screenplays that will be performed by actors at a staged reading at the Nantucket Atheneum at noon on June 29th.

“The format really has evolved in a way we are excited about,” Gullo said. “The festival was founded on a dedication to writing, so it seemed like a no-brainer in a way.”

Student participants will be encouraged to watch any films they want at NFF, meeting over lunch to discuss those films. They will also work on writing activities and play theatre games as they develop their screenplays. Gullo, who helped create NFF’s Screenwriting Sessions program as the longtime Associate Director of Almanack Screenwriters, has taught screenwriting at institutions including New York University and developed this year’s Teen View curriculum with a focus on the creative process.

“The bigger thing, really,” he said, “is to talk about the creative process. There's just so much value to demystifying the creative process and empowering people to tell stories that gnaw at their insides. Creativity is how we solve problems.”

Gullo will be joined by Anna Popnikolova, an alumnus of the Teen View program who attends Harvard University and founded Nantucket’s poetry festival, Farewell Fest.

“[NFF] is such a unique resource on this island, and I want young people to realize that,” Popnikolova said. “I have been so fortunate to take part in all of these island resources for so long. Being in Teen View…I genuinely think those skills are some of the most important skills that helped me get into Harvard.”

Popnikolova noted that she submitted one of the films she made with Teen View as a supplemental to her Harvard application. She is excited about the new format, which she thinks will allow the program to explore screenwriting in depth in a way it couldn’t before.

“It is really difficult to try to teach so many concepts in such a short time. I think the new structure of the program will allow us to hone in on a smaller set of skills,” she said. “We can spend more time on the writing process.”

“I don't think teens are given enough respect in our culture,” Gullo said. “Teens are chock-full of ideas, and passion, and good questions about the world…it’s an amazing program. I look forward to Teen View every year.”