Filmmaker, HHS Alum, Returns to School to Lead Masterclass

Students in Hillsborough High School's Advanced Filmmaking classes took advantage of an opportunity to meet with a filmmaking professional, one that certainly understands the challenges ahead of the students looking to build a career in film: Alek Rost, a 2007 graduate of Hillsborough High School.

Rost, a post production finishing producer at Final Cut in New York, returned to his alma mater Friday, speaking with about 60 students after receiving an invitation from the school's film studies teacher, James Arndt.

"He shared a lot of technical info with my students," Arndt said. "The students loved it."

Rost had been a student of Arndt's, getting his start in film making while a freshman at Hillsborough. He said he and his friends would regularly make movies that Rost particularly enjoyed editing.

"Editing was always an interest...because of the technical details involved in the process," he said.

His work at Final Cut is in the editing process, including color correction, visual effects and sound for a variety of commercial campaigns, feature films and music videos.

After his graduation, Rost attended the Savannah College of Art and Design, with a concentration on film editing. In May of 2010, during his senior year at SCAD, he was accepted to an internship with The American Pavilion and attended the Cannes Film Festival for two weeks.

He said the experience cemented his passion for wanting to pursue post production as a career.

At Hillsborough High School, Rost shared some of his career advice and encouraged them to "focus on seeing yourself in a future position in the ad/entertainment business that would really speak to their passions."

"A handful of students are really passionate about pursuing this in the future, and I had the opportunity to speak to them about that on an individual basis as I wrapped up my presentations for various classes," he said.

Rost said most of the students in the classes are very prepared for the work they want to do in the film industry.

"And they all asked great questions on how to achieve their goals," he added.