Forty-five students from High Tech High Chula Vista (HTHCV) have embarked on a journey to explore the causes of gun violence in America and to discover possible solutions.

With guidance from HTHCV teachers Nuvia Ruland and Matt Simon, the students have begun production on a documentary film called “Beyond the Crossfire.”

During the planning phase, students strategically chose their title. They did not want the film to become a politicized debate about the Second Amendment or gun control. As documentarians, they decided to go beyond that polemic and instead focus heavily on individuals, groups and programs that have been successful in understanding and abating violence in their communities.

“The students wanted to highlight concrete ways to reduce violence,” Ruland said. “Although this film began as an investigation into the causes of gun violence,” she added, “the research has introduced us to effective programs to reduce all types of violence by focusing on strengthening the human being as a whole.”

Their filmmaking process will take them around the nation from San Diego to Chicago to Newtown. They will make several trips to film and do interviews.

High-end camera equipment and travel expenses will be covered in part by a successful kickstarter.com campaign that has raised more than $30,000 to date, far exceeding expectations. Their original estimate and goal for production was $18,000.

Media Arts Center San Diego’s Teen Producers Project has been providing equipment for the initial video projects and supporting the students since the fall of 2013. Media Arts Center instructor Jesse Keller and HTHCV’s Simon have been teaching the young filmmakers in various aspects of pre-production, production and post-production.

The students also produced and uploaded several short videos about the project and fundraising efforts on their Beyond the Crossfire YouTube channel. They have shown such commitment that interest in the film has soared.

“Beyond the Crossfire” has already been honored as an Official Selection for the first ever White House Student Film Festival (WHSFF). On Feb. 28, HTHCV students Tirsa Mercado and Gabe Garcia, accompanied by Ruland and Simon, traveled to Washington to show a short film about the documentary. Mercado featured prominently in and narrated the piece, and Garcia directed. The students met with President Obama and took photos with him and Bill Nye, the Science Guy. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and AFI President and CEO Bob Gazzale were in attendance and Conan O’Brien addressed the students by video.

“Being at the White House for the White House Student Film Festival was an amazing experience,” Garcia said. “I was very excited to be there, but I was also honored to be able to represent the other 43 students back in California working on the production of Beyond the Crossfire.”

At the event, Garcia and Mercado were able to share ideas with other filmmakers about their projects, Garcia said. They spent a total of four hours in the White House screening videos and watching a sneak peek of the documentary television series “Cosmos.”

“Overall, being in the White House was such a surreal experience,” Mercado said. “Hearing the President talk about how every single one of our projects was incredible and how proud he was of us made me feel the project we were doing wasn’t impossible, like so many people had told us before,” she added.

“Other White House guests came up to us after the viewing to tell us how the film inspired them,” she said. “I hope that we not only reduce violence but we give people a new perspective on how to reshape communities.”

Mercado said she wants to continue to help change communities for the better after the project is done. “We’ve gone from being a documentary about gun violence to a movement to reduce all kinds of violence,” she said.

The trip to the White House had its genesis last December when Ruland received an email about WHSFF. The short film they presented was a response to the question: “Why is technology so important and how is it being used in your classroom?” The piece showed how they used technology to produce the student-led documentary.

“It seemed like a great opportunity for our students to demonstrate all they had learned about filmmaking in the first semester of school,” Ruland said.

More than 2,000 videos were submitted to WHSFF and their short film was one of only 16 selected to show. The team knew they were headed to Washington when the White House requested security background checks, Simon said in an interview with Fox News.

The full documentary, “Beyond the Crossfire,” is scheduled to be completed by December of 2014. Currently, the students will exhibit their short films at the San Diego Latino Film Festival this Saturday, March 15. They will also present their process for the year-long project at High Tech High Chula Vista’s Festival del Sol on Thursday, March 19 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Updates and new videos will be posted on their YouTube channel.

“This will all be a great opportunity to see, hear and support the work of this team of 45 students,” Ruland said.
The team is currently looking for additional financial support to help complete the project. Donations can be sent to High Tech High Foundation c/o Beyond the Crossfire #30036, 2861 Womble Road, San Diego, CA 92106.