Some of Sophie’s work:
• Forest Girl
• What Ever Happened to Saturday Night
Sophie Mitchell was the first recipient of the Justin Amorratanasuchad Scholarship. She was a 2012 graduate of The Center School, a public high school in Seattle. In Sophie’s words (from December 2019):
My home base is still planted in New York City at the moment. In the past year, I've expanded my community and have gotten the opportunity to collaborate with some of them on personal projects. I unfortunately don't have anything I can feature on the website as we're currently in the process of submitting a short film I just wrapped to film festivals. I produced this film in my free time and it's a project that is very close to my heart as I've been involved from story development stages all the way through post with the director/close friend. Excited to see where it takes us and hopeful we'll be able to screen it in 2020.
Within my career as a post producer, I recently went freelance to explore different sectors of the industry and meet new creatives to collaborate with as I had been full-time in my career up until this point.
What I've learned in this past year is that although the industry can ask that you commit a lot of time and energy to your day job, it doesn't diminish the desire and need to continue to create. I've encountered a lot of people with that same desire in my job and within friendships. This short film I just produced is an example of that. Many people I had existing relationships with were willing to devote their free time and believe in this project with us which was entirely self-funded. It's a great feeling to be able to do this. This was the tightest crew I've been a part of (and ran!). I hope to continue to create, expand and collaborate in the new year & years to come.
Sophie was the winner of The Center School’s 2011 Intermediate Film Student Award for Achievement and the NFFTY 48-Hour Film-Off Award. Her work received an Award of Excellence and an Honorable Mention at the 2012 Northwest High School Film Festival. Sophie was also a member of the National Honor Society.
Sophie used the scholarship for the 2012-2013 academic year at Bournemouth University. Here are Sophie’s comments upon receiving the JDogg Scholarship in 2012:
Film has had an immense impact on how I view myself and how I view the world. I have developed skills that have provided me with the self-confidence I never had but always needed and has helped to further my voice in a whole new light… Film has changed the way our society runs and film has truly impacted how we get our information.
In my opinion the biggest and most important issue in film making today is diversity. What I would love to help do is change the disproportionate system and allow people who never thought their dreams could come true, have the confidence to make them come true, like myself. I aspire to educate people not just by speaking and writing, but by inspiring people by the movies I someday will make and sharing my story… Thank you for this amazing opportunity.
