Students share thesis projects at Film Bazaar
Written by Cole Mihalich. Images courtesy of Maya Harwood.
One of the largest majors at SCAD is Film and Television. With that, each year, dozens of student projects are produced, and most are entirely self-funded. Many students seek help to raise the needed funds for their projects, and Junior Maya Harwood and Senior Julia Moran saw this as a chance to step up and find a solution.
“I attended the event last year which was formerly called Winter Thesis Fundraiser (WTF), that was organized by Julia Moran and Will Dowler,” said Maya Harwood. The student-run event later became less popular due to a smaller number of thesis projects in production and for some, a lack of awareness about the event. “After working with Julia on later projects we saw a need to revive the event, but it needed some rebranding to further broaden the audience with students and faculty.”
The two worked closely with many of the departments across the school, from performing arts to dramatic writing, production design and more. During the event on Feb. 2, seventeen different senior thesis projects participated. Ticket sales and donations at each of the project tables rounded out to an impressive total of four-thousand dollars. Students and faculty visited the event to support their peers and pupils.
“Most students think that crowdfunding through places like Indiegogo, Kickstarter or GoFundMe is the only way to fundraise their projects,” said Harwood. “But being able to go to in-person events and talk to someone about their project will attract more attention to your project as they’ll have a better understanding of not only the project, but where their money may be going.”
While Moran may be graduating, Harwood plans to continue onward throughout her own senior year. Harwood said, “[Student] films are always looking for ways to find money and crew, and there needs to be a more consistent way for them to access those resources. I think Film Bazaar can be just that.”
To stay updated on future Film Bazaar events, follow them on Instagram here.
