This summer, professional filmmakers from the Denver area hosted a filmmaking workshop for young people on the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute reservations. The workshop is part of an annual program funded by the Colorado Film Commission. 

Inside the Ignacio High School gymnasium, two professional filmmakers and four Southern Ute teenagers set up film equipment. The film crew prepared to film a tribal sports competition. The teenagers learned how to use a DSLR camera on a tripod and a GoPro on an extension pole. 

The workshop was funded by the Colorado Film Commission’s Native Film Workshop Grant. This year was teenager Houston Cunningham’s second time participating. 

“We’ve been doing a lot of different shots, like some basic B-roll clips, having to set up all the camera equipment for interviews, the lights, and still shots… how to use all the camera equipment. We’re doing interviews as well, trying to get people’s opinions,” Cunningham said. 

Joey Lopez, a freelance filmmaker living in Denver, guided the teens on their cinematography. He’s been leading workshops in Ignacio and Towaoc for the past six summers. 

“The biggest lessons have been about the kids. You don’t know who you’re going to inspire. You don’t know what you’re going to bring to the table for someone. Just being there, who you are, and imparting knowledge has been eye-opening for me,” Lopez said. 

Bruce Borowsky, a seasoned filmmaker from Pixel Mill Studios in Boulder, Colo., has led the two-weeklong workshop for the past three summers. 

“Getting to train these kids with skills that perhaps they could use in a career, sometimes you never know what’s going to click with young people. If it clicks with even just one of them, that’s like a beautiful thing,” Borowsky said. 

Borowsky and Lopez plan to continue leading the workshop in the coming summers. The film the students made this year will be entered into the 2025 Durango Film Festival