Barrows Featured Artist of May: Jonathan Bertone & Ryan Williams

Westwood High School offers a plethora of electives – from Creative Writing to Ceramics, American Pop Culture to Astronomy. For Jonathan Bertone and Ryan Williams, both sophomores at Westwood High, one class stood out above all the rest: Video Production.
 
In fact, they enjoyed Video Production so much during their freshman year that they both decided to enroll in Video Production II for the 2023 – 2024 school year. This casual choice led to an unexpected triumph earlier this spring.
 

One day, Ryan became fascinated by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist and partnered with Jonathan on a class project to create a captivating animated documentary short. The story of the infamous crime, a gripping tale of mystery and intrigue, was eventually submitted to the Salem Film Festival’s annual Keeping It Reel competition, along with numerous videos from other high schools across the state, including the rest of their classmates.
 

Keeping It Reel offers a platform for budding filmmakers to shine. The competition is free to enter and each submission must be under ten minutes long. Despite their modest expectations going in, Ryan and Jonathan’s 3:53 animated documentary, “The Most Valuable Heist of All Time”, won first place! Reflecting on their success, the duo attributes much of it to their teacher, Ms. Misuta, whose guidance and expertise paved the way.
 
“She’s a really, really great teacher,” Jonathan emphasized, highlighting the invaluable support they received throughout the creative process.
 

Venturing into the realm of animation was a big leap outside of their comfort zone, pushing them to acquire new skills and overcome many moments of doubt along the way.
 
“It was kind of hard to tell a story that’s so old without photos or video from the actual event, so animation was our only option,” Ryan admitted.
 

Their journey from conception to completion was marked by countless hours of dedication and collaboration.
 
“We had to do a lot of work over break,” Ryan recalls, “We didn’t really want to do it, but we had to do it in order to finish the project on time.”
 

As they bask in the glow of their win, Ryan and Jonathan look toward the future with optimism. They both expressed a desire to continue exploring their passion for video production, stating that they will definitely enroll in Video Production III next year.
 

In the world of filmmaking, success often hinges on the courage to explore the unknown and the tenacity to see it through.
 
“Your first year of high school is the year where, if you want to go outside of your comfort zone and try new electives, it’s the time to do so because there isn’t the option for AP classes that people may value more. Video Production is a pretty flexible class. You’re filming outside, you’re editing, and you get to fly a drone sometimes which is pretty awesome. Honestly, before enrolling in Video Production, I wasn’t sure if I was even interested in filmmaking, so I think it’s really important to try a bunch of different things to figure out what you enjoy,” shared Jonathan.