In March, Phoebe Rensink left Bloomington for Hollywood.
She’s always been a visual storyteller — she likes drawing, writing and painting.
But those other art forms didn’t quite trump her love for movies. She watched movies like “The Incredibles,” “Aladdin” and “Shrek” so many times, she can quote every line.
The 24-year-old now works as a first assistant camera operator on film sets with responsibilities that include switching lenses, rebuilding cameras and maintaining focus on a subject during shooting.
Rensink is also one of 39 contestants competing in this year’s Indiana Youth Film Festival.
The event, led by festival director and Weatherhouse Company founder Deonna Weatherly, will be held June 27-28 at Kan Kan Cinema & Restaurant.
Over 40 filmmakers ages 12-24 submitted coming of age, drama and thriller short films as well as music videos and documentaries to the Indiana Youth Film Festival team for review.
If you go
Indiana Youth Film Festival
🗓️ 1-7 p.m. Friday, June 27 and 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 28
📍 Kan Kan Cinema & Restaurant
🎟️ $25-$50
The contestants will compete in eight award categories, including Best Director and Best Middle School Picture. One winner will take home the Grand Jury Prize, which includes one free year of the editing software DaVinci Resolve Studio.
Rensink picked up a camera for the first time in middle school and started making short films.
“I realized that, ‘oh, all of these stories that I want to tell, these are movies,” she told Mirror Indy. “Once I realized that movies weren’t something that just sprang into being, that people made these, that was when I decided, this is what I want to do.”
After graduating from Ball State University in 2023, she freelanced and worked for a production company in Fishers.
After missing the deadline for last year’s festival, Rensink entered “Titan,” a mystery and fantasy drama film, which she wrote and directed, about the anxiety of starting your life after college. In the movie, the main character looks for the monster that used to live under her childhood bed. Rensink’s “Titan” will compete for Best Narrative Short.
And her eyes are set on an even bigger prize — working as a director of photography or what is also known as a cinematographer on big budget, union projects. Rensink is inspired by the success of Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s work in “Sinners,” and directors Greta Gerwig and Denis Villeneuve.
It was Rensink’s main motive for moving to the “entertainment capital of the world.” A decision her and her colleagues considered after they took a trip to Los Angeles during their senior year at Ball State.
“If this truly is what I want to do, I have to see how it goes out here. I’ll always wonder what could’ve been,” she said.
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Mirror Indy reporter Mesgana Waiss covers arts and culture. Contact her at 317-667-2643 or mesgana.waiss@mirrorindy.org.
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