About us

Since 2002, Fresh Films has spent each summer taking the latest in technology and motion picture experience to the next generation of America's filmmakers. This program provides access to professional equipment, experienced instructors, and a complete filmmaking experience to young people willing to put in the hardest week of work of their lives. Sweat is all it costs to participate in what has become the largest teen filmmaking program in the country.

In the beginning, it might have been the smallest. It started in Chicago, where Dreaming Tree Films, an independent production company, had already introduced filmmaking to urban teens with the city's Afterschool Matters program. Seeing the opportunity to bring the art and science of filmmaking to any teen with the drive, determination and ambition to succeed, Dreaming Tree developed Fresh Films.

The Start of Something
The first season featured just two cities, twenty teens, a private awards ceremony in Chicago, and the satisfaction of a job well done. Since then, the program has expanded, with new crews and more opportunities, its films premiering in juried national and international festivals, earning awards and the possibility of Oscar™ gold.

In 2007, Fresh Films offered a premiere filmmaking education to a hundred teens in nine cities, and added incisive, critical commentary on their films by a jury of film professionals, including acclaimed actor and director John Lithgow, director Katherine Brooks and producer Jeremy Coon, among others.

The Present and the Future
This program has grown from the inside out. Every year, Fresh Films asks its teen crews how to improve on the experience, and each year, we've used their suggestions to build a better program. In 2010, the program invited teen screenwriters to submit their work, achieving a long-awaited goal of making each of Fresh Films' short films 100% teen produced, from beginning to end.

Celebrities and industry professionals have been attracted to the Fresh Films program since its inception. Actors, directors, producers and more have given back to the next generation of film by serving as jury members, stars, and spokespeople for the program. 2010 participants include Sean Astin, Paul Scheer, Bob Levy and more. There’s no telling who will take part this year!

Dreaming Tree Films is proud of the tradition they've created with Fresh Films and we look forward to many more seasons of excellence in youth filmmaking to come.