Cope student wins big at California Student Media Festival

For the second time in a month, Cope Middle School sixth grader Calvin Catania stepped onto the red carpet — this time in Hollywood, where he attended the 59th annual California Student Media Festival. The May 17 event featured some of the best student filmmakers from across California.

Calvin’s movie “Cheap$kate” was first featured at the RUSD FilmFest in April as part of the fiction short films in the middle school category. Calvin was encouraged by Jaime Cortz, the organizer of the RUSD FilmFest and senior director of K-12 Education, to submit his movie the the state competition.

At the California festival, Calvin’s movie won not one but two prizes.

The festival included films made by more than 6,000 students across the state in grades K-12. Leading educators, media and technology experts, librarians and teachers judged and selected the winners.

After becoming a finality in the middle school fiction category, Calvin's movie was up against two other finalists. Standing alongside the actors in his film, Calvin recalled the moment he found out he had won: “They showed the top three and said, ‘The winner is...’ and then they zoomed in on the number one, and I was like, no way!” he said. “It was insane.”

Calvin got on stage with his fellow actors and first said his thanks to the festival. “Thank you to my parents, sometimes I didn’t want to do it and they pushed me through. Thank you to my sister, she did a bunch of the stunts and to all of my actors here, they worked really hard. Thank you, it’s an honor.”

In the middle school division, with up to 40 films competing, Calvin’s movie won the Grand Prize, which came with $750 for his school.

“This is for anyone who ever made me pay,” Calvin said, nodding to the title of his movie Cheap$kate. He also won a set of headphones.

“It’s a great storyline, awesome casting, great messaging and great plot twist. Congratulations!” read the message that accompanied the award.

“It was so fun to watch, I watched it a few times,” said MC Jennifer Langer, of the California State Parks PORTS Program. “I loved it.”

While many of the participating schools have film programs or classes assisting the students in their film making, Calvin created his film on his own. A detail that made his parents and him particularly proud.

Behind the Scenes: A Family Affair in Filmmaking

Calvin’s passion for filmmaking began to take shape last year, when a moment of encouragement from his father helped spark his confidence.

“Calvin, I want to sit in a darkened theater with a big bag of popcorn, a bag of Skittles and a big cherry Coke. And I want to see your film on the screen and enjoy it,” Chris Catania told his son in 2024. “That was kind of the moment when I could see it flipped in his mind—oh, I can do that.”

The Catania family traveled to Calico Ghost Town to film Calvin’s first RUSD FilmFest submission, The Young Cowboy, including saloon scenes at Millcreek Restaurant. This year, Calvin recorded scenes closer to home — in Prospect Park, their backyard and a local diner.

The family loves watching and analyzing movies together. “I take a lot of inspiration from Star Wars action scenes,” Calvin said, explaining how he learned to use close-up shots effectively.

“We want to nurture that, and we have a lot of fun,” said Chris, who, along with Calvin’s mother, hosts a podcast called Live Fix about the concert fan experience.

Calvin didn’t just star in two roles for Cheap$kate — he wrote the script, directed, edited and composed the original piano score. He spent months refining the film, learning to accept feedback and improve the final product.

“Next year they want to have [Calvin] back to present at the festival,” Chris said.

Looking Ahead: Bigger Dreams, More Festivals

Calvin has big goals for the future — starting with learning how to operate a professional camera.

“I would like to be a film director,” he said. He also hopes Cope Middle School will continue offering its digital storytelling class and requested that the $750 prize he won be used to support it. “I’m trying to gather people at school, so if you know anyone,” he said.

Calvin was the first student guest on the RUSD podcast Tips and Salsa, where he encouraged fellow young filmmakers to take risks and be original. “You’ve got to have your own twist on it,” he said. He also reminded aspiring creators that expensive gear isn’t necessary: “All I used was a phone and two little microphones that can be attached to your shirt.”

Riding the wave of Cheap$kate’s success, Calvin and his dad have now submitted the film to six additional festivals.

“We’re trying to strike while things are hot,” Chris said.

Listen to Calvin Catania’s interview on the Tips and Salsa-podcast hosted by the RUSD here: www.creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/tipsandsalsa/

Learn about the California Student Media Festival, see the list of winners and watch all the movies here: www.mediafestival.org/