The objective at Make Salt Lake is simple. Even if there are no detailed plans to make something, there is no reason to be dissuaded from a project. For example, Make Salt Lake’s Beth Sallay, the coordinator for the Art and Technology venue at the Utah Arts Festival, is not a musician but she wanted … Read more
Indispensability can be a challenging concept to articulate, especially for nonprofit arts institutions in communities where the arts are seen as an amenity rather than as an absolute necessity. But then there are those institutions which build upon their most successful and visible programs to cultivate deeper roots in their communities by offering activities and … Read more
NOTE: All four short films are available for viewing here. In its 15 years, the PitchNic film program at Spy Hop Productions has succeeded because student filmmakers first learn the rules of crafting a good narrative for a short film, whether it is fiction or a documentary piece, and then learn how to break them, … Read more
A dozen Utah teen filmmakers working on four short films for Spy Hop Productions’ 15th annual PitchNic program experienced many of the same barriers and problems professionals in the movie industry confront continuously in their projects. A group producing the program’s first murder mystery not only had to tell its story without representing violence on … Read more
Spy Hop Productions’ partnership with the Utah Arts Festival has evolved through the years, mainly because of the national youth media group’s penchant for adventurous projects that push the creative boundaries of festival visitors much in the same way the organization’s mentors encourage their students to be as bold as possible. This year, Spy Hop … Read more
Impressive as expected, the recent 14th annual PitchNic short film premieres by students at Spy Hop Productions engaged an audience of nearly 500 at the Rose Wagner Center for Performing Arts in many good questions following the screenings. More importantly, the quality of the films indicated that the student filmmakers are ready to submit their … Read more
This year’s student filmmakers in Spy Hop Productions’ PitchNic program quickly mastered the art of pitching compelling story ideas for their projects. Inspired by her background in dance and an interest in physical therapy and kinesiology, Mary Nejatifar pitched the idea of following three older adults with Parkinson’s disease who participate in a new program of … Read more
At this year’s Utah Arts Festival, the Arts and Technology venue has been running continuously on a full head of STEAM — that is, Art into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). At the heart of the nonstop activity has been the work of volunteers, including members of Make Salt Lake, Spy Hop Productions, ProVolt (the … Read more
Late last year, it took only a few hours for a social media controversy to erupt that would force the Old Navy clothing company to pull a line of T-shirts and sweatshirts which featured the tag “Young Aspiring Artist” with the word “artist” crossed out and replaced with “astronaut” or “president”. The controversy brought a … Read more
There was a lot to celebrate in 2015 with the Utah Enlightenment, a creative movement where courage defines some of the state’s most interesting and independent artists. Indeed, the Enlightenment disturbs and disrupts the peculiar Utah penchant to be civil and docile or to be content with platitudes and pleasantries. Artists are reclaiming Utah’s unique … Read more