BRAD HORN/Nevada Appeal Tom Drakulich, 17, a senior at North Valleys High School in Reno, listens four-time Emmy Award winner Sheldon I. Altfeld at Western Nevada Community College on Friday afternoon.
Producer Temma Keaton thinks Nevada may have a jackpot outside of the gaming industry: Entertainment.
"More and more production is coming to Nevada because it's cheaper," she said. "The entertainment business is one that can bring Nevada a lot of revenue, but it has to be people from within who are working."
To begin the training process, she enlisted the help of Sheldon Altfeld, a 12-time Emmy Award nominee and four-time Emmy Award winner.
The two are hosting a three-day comprehensive video production workshop at Western Nevada Community College, leading students through the process of casting, filming and producing a film.
They are working from Altfeld's text, "Making Sure that Every Frame is a Rembrandt."
"Sooner or later, I'm going to croak and all the information I have is going to be gone," he said. "So I wrote the book and I teach when I can."
Catalina Clark traveled to Carson City from Oregon, where she is a marketing student at Oregon Institute of Technology, especially for the seminar.
"If you want to get into commercials, you have to know a lot about the production side," she said. "It will help with a storyboard class I have now, too."
Catalina joined her WNCC-student sister Chelsea Clark, who is interested in creating videos of extreme snowboarding and skiing.
In creating the video, students will get experience in front of the camera as well as behind the lens.
It served as good experience for Carson High School sophomore Brenon Tyzber, who hopes to pursue a career in acting and directing.
And it helped Rodney Murphy, who films classes at the Fallon campus for distance education to the outlying areas.
"If you do the camera right and keep the people involved, it makes people want to learn," he said. "I am taking computer courses ,but I would really have more fun in this type of industry."
Todd Crowell, 17, takes video production at Carson High but isn't sure whether he will pursue a career in the field.
"That's what I'm here to find out," he said. "This seems like a jump-right-in course that can get you ready for many things."
The workshop will conclude Sunday. For information, contact Pat Lees at (775) 445-4405 or e-mail plees@wncc.edu.
Contact Teri Vance at tvance@nevadappeal.com or at 881-1272.
