ESD Sophomore is Comfortable Behind Camera
Cal Etcheverry made nine short films, formed his own studio, and won a grand prize at a festival for a French-language project.
Then he became a sophomore in high school.
Etcheverry’s passion for filmmaking has led to a diverse and polished resume of student films, three of which were accepted into the All-American High School Film Festival in late October in New York City.
“I’m really surprised I even got one in. I’m very excited,” said Etcheverry, a University Park resident who attends Episcopal School of Dallas. “There are so many students from around the world who are going to this. I like seeing their films and interacting with them.”
The festival received several thousand submissions but only accepted about 200. Etcheverry plans to attend the festival to represent his three films, entitled Riches to Rags, Pick Your Poison, and L’Amoureuse. The latter is an experimental French film for which Etcheverry also does the narration.
He made the French film for a class project, and after it won a festival prize, his teacher encouraged him to submit it to other festivals.
Etcheverry’s projects have ranged from comedy to drama to romance, including a version of “Much Ado About Nothing” in the style of Amerian Hustle that he presented at ESD’s Shakespeare festival.
“I just made films outside of school as kind of an extracurricular activity,” said Etcheverry, who also plays football and basketball and is active in the school’s French club.
He’s also a member of the ESD film club, of course, and has started a YouTube channel and a website to house all of his work.
Etcheverry said that after he graduates, he aspires to attend film school or pursue filmmaking in college, in hopes of turning it into a career.
“At this point, I’ve really immersed myself in film so much that I really think I’m going to go on in the film industry,” he said. “I’m really passionate about it.”
