Educational Background/Training

LH employs four full time TAs with backgrounds in filmmaking and teaching to plan and execute our workshops. We also hire, on average, 30 Freelance TAs each year to expand our teaching capacity and to bring unique skills to our students.

Will Goss, Creative Director, joined LH in 2019 having spent 3 years teaching film and in Mississippi 2 years teaching English in Russia. Goss holds an MFA in Filmmaking from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In addition to creating films, Goss writes and records music.

Rachel Lane, Program Director, earned her BA in studio art from the University of Virginia, with a focus on cinematography and new media. She received her MFA in film, video, animation and new genres from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and taught filmmaking at the university level before joining LH in 2020.

Zack Marotta, Education Director,  is a Charlottesville native who grew up making movies with his friends around town. He studied filmmaking at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and worked as an independent producer, screenwriter and editor. His short films played in festivals around the world and his feature-length screenplay Sight Unseen won the New York Screenplay Contest’s Grand Prize for Comedy. Zack taught youth filmmaking at the New York Film Academy and in NYC public schools. He joined the LH team in June 2021.

Kayla Saunders, Teaching Specialist, began writing and directing theater in high school. She earned her B.A. degree from James Madison University in the School of Media Arts and Design in 2019. Throughout her career as a filmmaker and now educator, Kayla has had the opportunity to work on a variety of short films, feature films, and commercials. Her work has earned her several awards, including Best American Director and Best American Film at the Cannes Film Awards, Best Director at the Women’s International Film Festival, and more. Kayla joined the LH team in 2024.

About the Artist/Ensemble

Light House Studio (LH) was founded in 1999 by a group of local filmmakers, artists, and educators who began with a small pilot workshop, Video Diary. Since then we have helped youth create thousands of documentaries, dramas, and animated films. Our student work has been broadcast on PBS, CNN, IFC, and TNT. Work has been exhibited at the Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia, Second Street Gallery, and Live Arts, among others. LH films have been shown in festivals all over the United States and many of our students have received national awards for their films, including a Peabody Award, a Gold World Medal at the New York Festivals World’s Best TV & Films, and a CINE Golden Eagle Award.

To our knowledge, LH is the only dedicated youth film center in VA. Our year-round workshops provide uncensored, hands-on experience in digital filmmaking and exhibition. Professional mentorship from Teaching Artists (TAs) opens dialogue, sparking creativity while strengthening scriptwriting, storyboarding, organizational skills, and planning. Further professional development takes place as participants learn to act, maximize light and equipment to capture shots, and perform post-production functions like editing and sound. 

Students have full artistic license to express their voice and reflect on societal events as they create and direct their films. Workshop topics include: Intro to Filmmaking; Screenwriting; Animation; Music Video; and SciFi Action and Adventure; among others. To ensure a 5:1 or less student to teacher ratio, LH employs 3 full-time staff with teaching capability and contracts freelance teaching artists. A library of professional film equipment is available for student success. 

In addition to technical skills that increase media literacy, our workshops train soft skills like storytelling and the ”5 C’s of a Virginia Graduate”: critical thinking, creative thinking, communication, collaboration and citizenship skills. Our survey results confirm students and parents see improvement in these areas. 

Since 2003, we have collaborated with local nonprofits and schools to offer tuition-free workshops through our “Keep it REEL” program. We also offer tuition assistance opportunities for our Summer Film Academy, enabling diverse youth to access specialized and advanced workshop offerings. In 2023, we partnered with 58 organizations, and 63% of our students attended for free or at a reduced cost. Some organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club travel to our studios and appreciate offering a professional atmosphere to their participants. If an organization cannot travel to us, we go to them, eliminating lack of transportation as a barrier to access.

Since 2020, we have increased school-based partnerships, helping teachers to incorporate project-based learning into their classrooms. Students are able to combine their school subjects with collaborative filmmaking and transform themselves from passive consumers to active creators of media.

Educational Program Description

Our Introduction to Filmmaking workshops target youth in grades 3-12 (tailored to elementary, middle and high school levels). Each workshop includes 16-24 hours of in-person instruction, and can take place in-school, after-school, or in the summer. Workshops are held at LH’s Vinegar Hill Theatre teaching studios or partner locations. Planning conversations happen 2 months prior to a workshop. The general syllabus can be adapted and customized for each partner. Post-mortem conversations happen at the end of each workshop to collect feedback from partners and make plans for future collaborations.

Our goals include: increasing racial, cultural, and gender diversity; fostering an inclusive and enriching space for self expression through filmmaking; guiding students to become confident, collaborative thinkers, storytellers, and artists; and preparing them for artistic, academic, and career success. Our curriculum has been developed in alignment with an evidenced-based Harvard study, “The Qualities of Quality: Understanding Excellence in Arts Education.” The benchmarks include: 1) fostering broad dispositions and skills; 2) teaching artistic skills without making them primary; 3) developing aesthetic awareness; 4) providing ways of understanding the world; 5) providing ways for students to engage with community and civic issues; 6) providing a venue for students to express themselves; 7) and helping students develop as individuals.   

By the end of each workshop, students will have created a film – a tangible reminder of one’s ability to achieve and a finished product for applications and resumes. Workshops culminate in a screening of student work for their friends and families. Top films are showcased at our annual Youth Film Festival with submissions to national festivals to further establish students as media artists. 

The general syllabus can be tailored to address curricular goals and topics. TA’s and teachers work together to establish the theme and direction for the workshops. LH TA’s use hands-on methods and industry standard equipment and software to provide training at the intersection of art and technology. LH maintains a 5:1, or less, teacher to student ratio and most workshops include an Assistant TA. Our workshops address academic core competencies in writing, communication, math, and science through film. Students must understand how light, sound, and spatial relations impact shots while computing blocking and time frames. Students often work with a team, writing a script or set notes, presenting their ideas in a concise format, and communicating with the team, actors, and other contributors. Some workshops engage in topical collaborations that use film as a means to explore current issues such as Climate Change and Tobacco Prevention. 

Across all LH programs, students are gaining media literacy skills as they transform themselves from passive consumers to active creators of digital media. Workshops support the skills outlined by the VA Standards of Learning as essential for a comprehensive visual arts education as well as the “5 C’s of a Virginia Graduate”: Critical thinking, Creative thinking, Communication, Collaboration, Citizenship. Survey results confirm students and parents see improvement in these areas. In 2024, 98% of LH students reported improved creativity; 97% increased collaboration skills; 96% improved storytelling abilities; and 96% improved communication skills.

Fees

Project costs vary, reach out for an estimate.

Audiences

• Elementary Students
• Secondary (Middle/High School) Students
• College/University Students