Samantha Carroll Accepted into Prestigious Film School
Samantha Carroll has been accepted into one of the top ten film schools in the country. The Huntington High School senior is headed to Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts in Orange, California.
“Sam is beyond talented when it comes to making films,” said teacher Heather Swan, who heads Huntington’s video arts program. “She has been in film festivals and competitions for her entire four years of high school. As I have had the pleasure of working with Sam for the past four years in the video program, I could not be more proud of her.”
“Watching movies really made me love filmmaking, and then when I was 10, I started using my dad’s early 2000s video camera and filming things with my friends and basically never stopped,” Ms. Carroll said.
The Huntington teenager plans to major in film production. “Mrs. Swan has been a big influence,” Ms. Carroll said. She taught me how to finish a project even if I’ve lost faith in it. Mr. [Erik] Bruckbauer, Mr. [Ed] Florea and Mrs. [Kelly] Krysinski have also impacted me.”
“Chapman University is ranked as one of the top ten film schools in the country,” Mrs. Swan said. “Sam will be our first Huntington High School film student to attend this prestigious program. She has an incredible way of developing characters that border on over the top, but she still makes them believable. She has a fantastic sense of humor that transcends age or gender, which is shown in all of her projects.”
Ms. Carroll has won honors in numerous film contests. She always seems to be working on a film project. “I am most happy when I’m laughing really hard,” she said. “I know how insanely cheesy that is, but if I’m writing a scene with my friends and we’re coming up with these wild ideas, even if they’re not funny to anyone else, we’re just on the ground laughing. Those are the best moments. Also any moment I’m not watching an ad on YouTube.”
A well-rounded student, Ms. Carroll has enjoyed her time at Huntington High School. “I loved being involved with Playfest,” Ms. Carroll said. “As high schoolers, we’re constantly watching depictions of what high school is supposed to be like on TV and in movies. Playfest was a way for the grade to come together and sort of mock those traditional standards. I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to write and perform jokes with my classmates and for an audience.”