The Sharpened Crayons swept the competition at the second annual John Carroll Film Festival on April 11, winning both the audience favorite and the judges’ first place award.
Henry Basta, class of ’07, and Jay Karolenko, class of ’08, won the two awards for their short film, “Webisode #2.” Basta and Karolenko formed the band Sharpened Crayons, and their mockumentary-style film documents their search to find a job to pay for new instruments.
“It really meant a lot to me that the audience enjoyed our ‘Webisode’ because we had a blast with both writing and filming the short [film]. It’s not every day you get the opportunity to sing Bonnie Tyler during a job interview,” Henry Basta said.
The film festival showcased 14 films made by students from JC, Friends School of Baltimore, Towson University, and the Interlochen Arts Academy in Greenlake, Michigan.
Nick Weinfield from Interlochen received second place for his film “Mt. Burlington,” and Iszy Taeger and Ben Lewin, both from Friends, won third place for “Lady and the Tramp.”
The Sharpened Crayons also entered “Please Don’t Go,” in which Karolenko performs a one-man a capella cover of Mike Posner’s hit song. All sounds were produced vocally by Karolenko, and Henry Basta edited the video.
Before the film viewing began, senior Liz Johnson and sophomore Thomas Gardner sang and played the piano. Then, the Sharpened Crayons entertained the audience while the judges critiqued and reviewed the films.
Senior Brooke Basta organized the film fest for her senior project.
“I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of my sister Brooke. I’ve seen how hard she had to work to organize the film festival, and in the end, as an audience member, it was certainly an entertaining time,” Henry said.
Before the film festival, Brooke Basta was nervous about speaking in front of everyone and working with the technology. However, “Just thinking how hard I worked on the film festival and knowing that the people who came mainly came to support me helped to calm my nerves,” Basta said.
Jenny Hottle is the Online Chief for “The Patriot” and www.jcpatriot.com.