Katherine Maxwell: Documentarian

Katherine Maxwell, 18, has developed her passion for filmmaking at the renowned Academy of Visual and Performing Arts at , a place she praises as a “microcosm of the film world.” As the director of photography in her “crew,” she is in charge of all lighting as well as the look of the film. Patch caught up with the busy senior as she was prepping for the spring Sony Pictures Studios screening.

Culver City Patch: Tell me about your love for filmmaking.

Katherine Maxwell: I started as a freshman, though not until second semester. Within weeks of joining, I was learning the ropes of a film that they put on called 819; I really liked the camaraderie of the filmmakers.  819 was a very big production as it had a lot of grants from film companies. We also got to screen it at Sony Pictures Studios.

It was a good opportunity for me to get started and to shadow people. For 819, I remember we had very long shoot days. I would often be at school at 8 a.m. and get home at 10 p.m. The AVPA is really great that way; it’s like a microcosm of the film world.

Patch: Who do you look up to as a filmmaker?

Maxwell: I really like the director Ridley Scott. He directed ‘Blade Runner’ and ‘Gladiator’; he’s big on epic films. I really like how he makes me think about the subject matter at hand.

For example, ‘Blade Runner’ makes you think about what it means to be human. The machines have the same feelings as humans do in the movie. I like films that make me think.

Within the , I look up to Ms. Alexis Butler; when she came in she attracted more girls to the program. Now we have a much better proportion of girls, though it isn’t equal.

Patch: Tell me about your current film.

Maxwell: It’s a music video. We finished shooting and are now in the post-production stage. My friend, Elena Silva, is the director. She wrote the song, and her father is arranging the song on specific musical equipment as well as using live musicians. Silva screened the first half of her rough cut in class on Monday and it was very well received by the class and the teachers.

The decision on which films will make it to the Sony screening will be made early next week. It’s more of a contest then it was in the past, because they obviously can’t screen seven films at Sony—there are seven groups of us creating films at AVPA.

I also recently directed a fall film through the AVPA called ‘The Landlady.’

Patch: You also did a film project for the Girl Scouts Gold Award, yes?

Maxwell: Yes. I directed a film through for the Girl Scouts Gold Award about the . My advisor for the project was . She helped me figure out whom I needed to interview and what kind of questions were important. I did interviews with five or six community members.

Cerra has a ranch here; she told me the and provided information for me. I interviewed a longtime teacher at Culver City High School, who has worked there for about 30 years. I also had to present a 40-page proposal to the Girl Scouts. It was really rewarding, and I learned a lot about filmmaking. I basically had to edit seven to eight hours of footage down to 10 minutes. I used the skills that I learned at AVPA to make the film.

This film was the culmination of my experience, and it was also my way of giving back to the organization. I have been a Girl Scout since the first grade. I will be receiving the Gold Award in June.