Luke Champlain grew up going to the movies every week with his family.

“We still go whenever we’re able,” said the 18-year-old Penn-Trafford senior. “I’ve always wanted to make movies. I think one of the coolest thing you can do is tell stories.”

It’s easier than ever for young people like Champlain to start telling those stories, in both short- and long-term formats. Between the proliferation of smartphone video editing and opportunities such as the television production class Champlain takes at Penn-Trafford, budding content creators have a world of creativity at their fingertips.

Deirdre Evans-Pritchard, executive director of the annual DC Independent Film Festival in Washington, D.C., wants to nurture that creativity.

Festival organizers have launched Y-Cam.org, a nonprofit website offering content creation resources, summer learning sessions and ways for young filmmakers and content creators to step up their game.

“We’ve run the youth film festival for 12 years now, and during that process it began as just a handful of people, who weren’t making high-quality films in those days,” Evans-Pritchard said. “Now we’re seeing a big change, with people able to make a decent film on their iPhone. These young people need a space where they can show their creativity without being crowded out by the adult world. This is a way to give them access to resources, grants and opportunities.”

Penn-Trafford senior Brooklyn Usmiller, 17, said she’s come a long way since the days when all she wanted was to become a famous YouTuber.

“My brother and I always did videos,” she said. “When I got to (the TV production class), I realized that I can have that creative outlet in a more professional way.”

Senior Chloe Stack, 18, joined the class on a friend’s recommendation and began to really enjoy it.

“I started to like producing and the behind-the-scenes stuff. I just like the technology — it’s fun to learn new things,” she said.

Multimedia students at Penn-Trafford and Franklin Regional high schools are gearing up for their biggest annual production, the holiday telethon. Both schools broadcast live on local cable access TV, featuring live entertainment, prerecorded video segments, interviews and more.

Franklin Regional sophomore and multimedia student Josh Vinton couldn’t escape content creation if he tried: His father Steve teaches the TV production class just down the road at Penn-Trafford.

“He got me (the editing software) Final Cut at a young age, and I just started making videos from there,” said Vinton, 15. “I started doing video interviews, making commercials and built my skills from there.”

Evans-Pritchard said students such as Vinton are the primary target for the resources at Y-Cam.org.

“When there are grants, internships, award competitions and those things available, we want to publicize it for these students,” Evans-Pritchard said. “We have an invitation-only Discord server, where people can post things like, ‘I’m making a film and looking for two people to act,’ to post equipment sales and to offer ways for young people in the five states that we cover to find opportunities and other people in the community.”

Franklin Regional senior Keaton Peveto, 18, took a film analysis class during his freshman year, “and it made me realize just how cool the behind-the-scenes stuff is, the effort that goes into all of that and how a film is brought to life,” he said.

“I’ve always messed around doing short videos on my phone and stuff like that,” he said.

Franklin Regional will host its annual telethon Dec. 19. Penn-Trafford’s will take place Dec. 22. Multimedia students at both districts spend the telethon day rotating through various positions, to get a feel for all aspects of content creation and television broadcasting.

“Everybody has their strengths,” said Franklin Regional senior Belle Ralston, 17.

“I really like the floor manager role,” Peveto said. “It’s calling sound cues, counting people down, changing the camera angle. It’s very much like directing.”

The Y-Cam.org website offers classes and resources to help students such as Peveto and Ralston hone individual aspects of content creation that interest them. In summer 2026, the Y-Cam program will offer five-week courses in animation, traditional and advanced filmmaking.

Both Franklin Regional and Penn-Trafford multimedia students have won their fair share of awards each year from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ regional student awards, the “student Emmys.” Evans-Pritchard said it’s great to see them and others taking advantage of the access that recent technology has provided to expand their creativity.

“We call it the democratization of film,” Evans-Pritchard said. “It’s more accessible to everybody, and we want to encourage that creativity. We’re trying to foster talent. Are these movies going to go on Netflix? No, but we want young creative students to know that there is a whole community interested in what they’re doing.”

For more information about the festival and filmmaker resources, visit Y-Cam.org. The deadline to submit an entry is Dec. 31.

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