Every year, thousands flock to the world-renowned Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The festival is a major educational opportunity for City College filmmakers, with 11 days of over 200 films, panels and competitions.

This year, four City College film students, Will Hahn, Felicia Bladh, Russell Hughart and Troy Wullbrandt, were chosen for the festival’s annual 10-10-10 Screenwriting and Filmmaking Mentorship Competition. 

The 10-10-10, short for 10 Writers-10 Directors-10 Films, has been held since 2004 for aspiring screenwriters and filmmakers. Constructive criticism is given by a panel of immensely respected professionals in the industry on competitor’s work.

To enter, screenwriters were asked to submit a 10-page sample of their best work and filmmakers were asked to submit a five-minute short film. 

Upon receiving a nomination, the students were paired up in teams and given a limited amount of time to start casting, pre-production, revisions and filming for a new production.

The professionals from the panel will be mentoring the 10 teams months prior to the festival, leading them through struggles they may face while creating the new film.

After receiving feedback on the final product, the competitors will submit their films to be shown at the Arlington Theater in January, coinciding with the end of the festival. 

Hahn, a third-year film production major, is a Santa Barbara native, as well as one of the four nominees from City College chosen for the competition. 

“It’s an awesome feeling to get into 10-10-10. I heard this year was the most competitive it’s ever been, so this is a really incredible opportunity for me,” he said. Hahn has applied to the 10-10-10 in the past but never got in as a director.

Curtis Bieber, Film and Television Production department chair, said the competition is extremely competitive and the number of City College students chosen for SBIFF is one of the highest in years. 

Because this is an international festival, there is a lot of pressure on the local City College competitors. 

“Every time I walk past the Arlington Theater I think, ‘Wow my film is gonna be playing there,’ It’s a crazy feeling,’” said Hahn.