2018 High School Winners

Emily Hed, a ninth grader at Chaska High School in Chaska, Minnesota, created her video as part of her Intro to Environmental Science class. But while creating a video was required, submitting it to the contest was not and Emily was the only student in her class to enter the contest. The class was learning about animal agriculture, something Emily knew nothing about previously but was immediately drawn to and wanted to learn more. After watching the film Cowspiracy she “became really upset” and wondered “why does no one know much about this? Why does everyone think it’s just cars and factories?” The fire in Emily had been lit and she used that passion to create her video.

Filmmaking has been a part of Emily’s life for a few years – she was the film editor for a group called National History Day video, has made a 10-minute documentary, and won an Honorable Mention for a film on Charles Darwin. But this was Emily’s first time doing stop-motion and a lot of trial and error was involved. The biggest challenge, however, was making the script condensed yet effective while staying within the one-minute time frame. Her advice to future participants? “Make sure you’re passionate about the topic. If you’re not, you won’t have the drive to make it fine-tuned. I really wanted to share this information with people so it gave me the drive.”

Emily swims year-round, including on her school’s team, and this spring is running track. She’s also a Girl Scout and loves the opportunities that offers her to travel with her troop. Since filmmaking is a big hobby of Emily’s, she’s considering spending her prize money on camera filters for her drone. Film might even play a part in Emily’s future but at this point, she only knows that she wants to do something related to science or math, perhaps in the fields of environmental law, biology, or medicine.