Award-Winning Filmmaker Zooms Into Writing Class
by Mr. Meals’ 10th-grade Expository Writing Class
On Tuesday, May 4th, York Prep’s 10th graders had the honor of meeting filmmaker Randall Christopher for a question-and-answer panel on his process of creating the 2018 award-winning animated short documentary, The Driver is Red. Christopher, who Zoomed in from San Diego to conduct this “virtual field trip” for the sophomore English and history classes, was both inspiring and captivating in his presentation. The afternoon began with a screening of the documentary about the 1960 capture of Nazi war criminal, Adolf Eichmann, in Argentina. Then, Mr. Christopher joined the classes remotely, leading the students on a journey from the sketchbook to the screen about his Holocaust research and animation process.
On Tuesday, May 4th, York Prep’s 10th graders had the honor of meeting filmmaker Randall Christopher for a question-and-answer panel on his process of creating the 2018 award-winning animated short documentary, The Driver is Red. Christopher, who Zoomed in from San Diego to conduct this “virtual field trip” for the sophomore English and history classes, was both inspiring and captivating in his presentation. The afternoon began with a screening of the documentary about the 1960 capture of Nazi war criminal, Adolf Eichmann, in Argentina. Then, Mr. Christopher joined the classes remotely, leading the students on a journey from the sketchbook to the screen about his Holocaust research and animation process.
One takeaway from the event was his message to “dive deep and wide” when conducting research, advice which the history faculty greatly praised. As Dr. Charles Kaczynski noted, “[Christopher’s] research for the film exhibited a mastery of techniques, such as "presearch," QFT questions, and contextualizing and "drilling down," that collectively compose the bedrock of great historical research.” Mr. Meals, a longtime friend of Christopher since the early 90s at Walt Disney World entertainment, moderated the presentation and fielded questions from students. Christopher highlighted his struggles with the documentary’s rejection early on, and how his ambition resulted in 41 awards from global film festivals.
Watch a preview of The Driver is Red here, and view Mr. Christopher's virtual visit here.
Watch a preview of The Driver is Red here, and view Mr. Christopher's virtual visit here.
