Aspiring filmmakers getting their start in Eastern Idaho

While the Oscars celebrate the art of film in Hollywood, there are aspiring filmmakers honing their craft in Eastern Idaho.

For the last six years, local videographer Steven Vest has put on an awards ceremony at the Romance Theater in Rexburg where film students show off their work and are presented awards in various categories.

“We present awards,” Organizer Steve Vest said. “We bring in guest speakers to speak to the audience and students and dress up in tuxes and gowns and it’s a great experience. Every year it gets better and better. I tell the students you’ve really got something here. You’ve got to get this out to other film festivals.”

That’s just what Derek Roper is planning to do. He’s refining his short film “Dream Girl” that won 9 of the 11 awards at Premiere Night.

“The hope for “Dream Girl” right now is, we’re about to go on a festival circuit, and so for the next 12 to 18 months we’re going to submit it to Cannes, Sundance, LDS motion picture film festival, with the hope that it can get some recognition and we can show producers the feature length script,” Roper said.

Roper is constantly working on improving the feature length script about a shy boy who has a crush on a girl, and that girl keeps appearing in his dreams to coach him on how to win her over.

“The problem starts to come when the guy starts to fall in love more with the dream version than the real version,” Roper said.

Roper loves making films.

“There’s nothing more rewarding that getting either a smile or a laugh or even at the last film festival having someone coming up to me and saying, ‘that really affected me for some personal reasons,'” Roper said.

Mark Mattei is another aspiring filmmaker. His short film, “Chapter 2” took first place at another premiere night.

“It is a drama about a girl who dies and she has to go through the various stages of grief before she decides to more on into death,” Mattei said.

Mattei can use his skills in his current job writing scripts and doing videos for a website called “Sleep Advisor.” But he has Hollywood aspirations.

“My dream job would be to be a screenwriter,” Mattei said. “I love directing and messing with the camera and doing the lights and everything, but I really like just crafting the story on a page. That’s my favorite part of film.”

Steven Vest has so enjoyed seeing film makers like Roper and Mattei take part in his Premiere Night, he is organizing a huge event for this summer in Rexburg called “The Grand Teton Film Festival.”

He already has entries from across the country and as far away as Sweden and Ireland. He has lined up a professional movie director, music composer, Hollywood cinematographer and an awards night concert by popular musician William Joseph.

“Everybody will be walking the red carpet, everyone will have their picture taken because we all want them to feel like VIPs,” Vest said.

The Grand Teton Film Festival about will be May 31st through June 1st in Rexburg. More information can be found on their website.