Peery Film Festival Receives Rave Reviews

Q&A with filmmakers at the Peery Film Festival. PROVO, Utah – Nov 3, 2010 – Lights. Camera. Make a difference. Four student-produced social entrepreneurship films were showcased at the first-ever Peery Film Festival sponsored by the Ballard Center for Economic Self-Reliance.

"With more than 300 students in attendance, the festival was a huge success," says Jessamyn Lau, program leader for the Peery Foundation, a sponsor of the event. "We're excited to see that opportunities to work in social entrepreneurship are in high demand by the BYU population. The students are globally minded and live in an entrepreneurial culture with a desire to go forth and serve — it's a natural fit for social entrepreneurship." 

Although the film festival was held on Sept. 30, preparations began almost a year ago. In early 2010 four teams of two students each were chosen to each produce a film. The six-minute films focused on a variety of global needs and highlighted four social entrepreneurship programs seeking to alleviate those challenges.        

Dusty Hulet creating his Samasource film in India. One of the films showcased the Samasource social entrepreneurship organization in India, which teaches underprivileged individuals computer skills to complete outsourced tasks for large corporations. The film was produced by Dusty Hulet, a senior majoring in entrepreneurship, from Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Becca Potter Summers, a 2010 theatre and media arts graduate from Sandy, Utah.

"Computer skills are changing people's lives and are becoming more accessible to people from the lowest classes," Hulet says. "Some of the people Samasource taught grew up as orphans and were raised by an NGO. To go from that background to having a corporate job is life changing."

Another film highlighted Komanza, a social entrepreneurship organization that promotes economic growth through an organic approach — by aiding subsistence farmers in Kenya plant and maintain trees. Travis Pitcher, a media arts major from Orem, Utah, and his wife, Becky, an English major from Buffalo, Minn., filmed local Kenyans hired by Komanza to help the local farmers succeed.

"Not only will the tree production help the economy, but as the trees grow the farmers will benefit from increased rainfall, resulting in better soil and greater eco-diversity," Pitcher says.  

After a successful beginning to the program with the Ballard Center, the Peery Social Entrepreneurship Program is seeking to increase and diversify the students involved in the program in 2011 by encouraging larger, cross-disciplinary teams with a greater emphasis on planning and research. By expanding the amount of students involved with the program more students will be able to gain experience and obtain what Hulet, believes is an improved outlook on life.    

"Anytime you get international experience with difficult situations it's going to improve your scope on life," Hulet says. "Especially given the ‘Happy Valley' setting that we live in. Not every valley is happy, and there's so much that we can do to help."

An informational meeting about 2011 Peery Film Festival opportunities will be held on Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. in the MOA auditorium.

The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, public management, information systems and entrepreneurship. The school's mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School's graduate and undergraduate programs.