Students in Focus

Beat Making: Fall
September 10 - October 17, 2024
Learn the basics of Ableton beat-making and music production in this course! Create your own unique songs using loops, software instruments, and your own custom sounds. Learn how to manipulate sounds with audio effects and design your own instruments to refine your sound.

Cinematography: Fall
September 10 - October 17, 2024
Learn the basics of cinematography! From cameras and lighting to framing shots and scenes, you’re sure to leave this class with a new ideas and a greater appreciation for the art of good cinematography! Play with different film styles and strategies in this six week class

Filmmaking Basics: Fall
September 16 - October 9, 2024
Hey aspiring filmmaker! Have you been wanting to get into filmmaking but don’t know where to start? Start your filmmaking journey in this four week class to learn the basics of cameras, lighting, and more! In this class, we will be making film stills, lighting subjects, creating shot lists, editing, and more.

Resonate
September 30 – July 30, 2025
If you’re a hip-hop enthusiast with a desire to grow, Resonate is your destination! Join a hip-hop crew, compose songs, and produce an album from scratch in this 10-month intensive program. We’re on the lookout for young rappers, singers, and producers with foundational music experience who are excited to write songs, create beats as a team, and then perform together in live concerts around the Salt Lake Valley. With the support of professional teaching artists, you’ll refine your songwriting craft through collaboration with your peers and learn what it takes to create an authentic hip-hop record that the world will love.

Focus on the Future Film Festival
Deadline: October 1, 2024
This film festival is open to all filmmakers that are Utah residents either 18-25 years of age or students currently enrolled / recent graduates of Utah colleges or universities. Submissions to the fUTure of Utah Filmmakers' Showcase must be 25 minutes or less in total runtime and completed within the last year, or 2022 or later. Now Accepting Submissions!

Power Up!
October 01 - July 31, 2025
Take your game from prototype to gold in this 10-month intensive workshop. In Power Up!, you will work as a team of designers, programmers, and producers to create a complete video game that investigates a social, community, or global issue. This collaborative environment will make you feel connected and part of a community. You will learn to think critically about games, how they are made, who makes them, representation in games, and what messages they hold. Using industry-standard software, Unity Game Engine, you will create your unique video games and publish your work for the world to play. As a team, you will build a game that will be green-lighted at a launch party in July 2025!

Creative Spark 2024 Video Contest
Submission Deadline: Friday, December 6, 2024
Lights, camera, action! It's time to show off the learning happening in your classroom with the NextVisa Video Contest. Don't miss out! This is really three contests: one for students, one for teachers, and one for collaborations between the two (as when students plan and/or act and the teacher edits). These get judged separately, and we'll be passing out prizes to the finalists and winners of each.

Tumbleweeds Film Fesival Submissions
Deadline: Saturday, March 1, 2025
Submissions are now open! Utah students K-8 can submit short (5 minutes or less) films to be considered for awards at the 2025 Tumbleweeds Film Festival for Kids.

Open Studio
Every Friday 3 to 7pm
Ages 13-19 - Spy Hop’s longest running walk-in music workshop! It’s literally an open studio full of musical gear for you to use! If you love to write songs or you’re just beginning the process, Open Studio is for you!

Utah Film Film Job Opportunities
Ongoing!
Want to work in the Utah Film Industry? Find out what productions are hiring local crew and extras, as well as local businesses looking for talented employees with film-related skills.